Urothelial tissue culture for bladder reconstruction: an experimental study.

An in vitro system for the growth of normal human urothelial cells has been developed. Urothelial cells were isolated from tissue samples in 38 patients and cultured in a defined serum-free medium. Confluent cell monolayers of 25 cm.2 were produced after 7 days in 32 cases. Subsequent subcultures at a 1:20 split ratio achieved confluency within another 7 days and a consistently high rate of growth was sustained for at least 7 passages. Characterization by immunofluorescence with a panel of antibodies demonstrated that the cultured cells were exclusively epithelial and retained the characteristic antigenic profile of normal urothelium, even after extended periods in culture. The only consistent cause of failure (6 of 38 cases) was bacterial contamination secondary to an underlying urinary tract infection in these patients.