Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the urinary bladder with
unknown etiology and unclear pathophysiology. In our study, we aimed to establish and
analyse a new biomimetic in vitro model of IC. We used cultures of normal porcine
urothelial cells (Sus scrofa domestica) and exposed them to low levels of oxidative stress
for 24 hours. We studied the effects of oxidative stress on partially differentiated (pd)
and highly differentiated (hd) urothelial cells. Using a cell viability assay, we determined
the GO concentration of 20 mE/mL to be the most suitable for simulating the oxidative
stress. The effects of oxidative stress on the permeability of the urothelium were
determined by measuring transepithelial resistance (TER) and permeability analysis for
dextran-TRITC (70 kDa), whereas the effects of oxidative stress on the expression of
two intercellular junction proteins, occludin and E-cadherin, were assessed by
immunolabeling. The effects of oxidative stress on cell differentiation and ultrastructure
were analysed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. We observed
statistically significant increases in cell permeability of pd cells after exposure to
oxidative stress, indicating that they are less resistant to oxidative stress than hd cells.
Although other statistical analyses showed no significant differences, we observed
trends, suggesting that oxidative stress reduces the expression of occludin and Ecadherin, lowers TER and negatively impacts differentiation and ultrastructural features
of cells in the established urothelial model.
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