A simple method for in vitro studies with rodent urinary bladders.

A method was developed for the in vitro study of rodent urinary bladders. The method consists of everting and distending the urinary bladder in a manner to allow exposure of the luminal surface of the urothelium during in vitro incubation while maintaining the integrity of the structure and morphology of the bladder. A technique for selectively removing the urothelium with SDS buffer for biochemical analysis was described. Incorporation of [3H]leucine into urothelial protein was linear over a 4 h period in the presence of tissue culture medium, but no significant incorporation occurred when urine was used as incubation medium. Autoradiography indicated the [3H]leucine incorporation was almost exclusively in the urothelial cells with essentially no incorporation by cells below the tunica propria.