Resumen
The mammalian urothelium apical surface plays important roles in bladder physiology and diseases, and it provides a unique morphology for ultrastructural studies. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an emerging tool for studying the architecture and dynamic properties of biomolecular structures under near-physiological conditions. However, AFM imaging of soft tissues remains a challenge because of the lack of efficient methods for sample stabilization. Using a porous nitrocellulose membrane as the support, we were able to immobilize large pieces of soft mouse bladder tissue, thus enabling us to carry out the first AFM investigation of the mouse urothelial surface. The submicrometer-resolution AFM images revealed many details of the surface features, including the geometry of the urothelial plaques that cover the entire surface and the membrane interdigitation at the cell borders. This interdigitation creates a membrane zipper, likely contributing to the barrier function of the urothelium. In addition, we were able to image the intracellular bacterial communities of type 1-fimbriated bacteria grown between the intermediate filament bundles of the umbrella cells, shedding light on the bacterial colonization of the urothelium.
Idioma original | English |
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Páginas (desde-hasta) | 365-373 |
Número de páginas | 9 |
Publicación | Journal of Molecular Biology |
Volumen | 374 |
N.º | 2 |
DOI | |
Estado | Published - nov. 23 2007 |
Publicado de forma externa | Sí |
Nota bibliográfica
Funding Information:This work was supported by (i) a National Center of Competence in Research program grant on “Nanoscale Science” awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the M.E. Müller Foundation of Switzerland, and the Canton Basel-Stadt and (ii) a National Institutes of Health grant (no. DK52206).
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Biophysics
- Structural Biology
- Molecular Biology
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't