Uroplakins are a widespread group of vertebrate integral membrane proteins that belong to two different families: UPK1a and UPK1b belong to the large tetraspanin (TSPAN) gene family, and UPK3a, UPK3b, UPK3c, UPK3d, UPK2a and UPK2b form a family of their own, the UPK2/3 tetraspanin-associated family. In a previous study, we reported that uroplakins first appeared in vertebrates, and that uroplak...

The asymmetric unit membrane (AUM) forms numerous plaques covering the apical surface of mammalian urinary bladder epithelium. These plaques contain four major integral membrane proteins called uroplakins Ia, Ib, II and III, which form particles arranged in a well-ordered hexagonal lattice with p6 symmetry and a lattice constant of 16.5 nm. Bovine AUM plaques negatively stained with anionic sod...

OBJECTIVE There are few reported cases of secondary (non-cutaneous) vulvar Paget's disease related to urothelial carcinoma (UC), with only 7 of them presenting initially with Paget's disease and up to a 13-year lapse from detecting a urinary tract neoplasm after the onset of symptoms. This is a case of Paget's disease of urothelial origin with no urinary tract neoplasm detected on initial prese...

BACKGROUND Brenner tumors almost always develop in the ovary. Exceptionally, extraovarian Brenner tumors have been reported in the lower abdomen or pelvic organs. Here, we introduce a peculiar case of an extraovarian Brenner tumor arising in the omentum. CASE PRESENTATION A 43-year-old woman presented with a palpable abdominal mass. Computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a 9.0-cm solid mass i...

INTRODUCTION Different clinical conditions can compromise the urinary bladder function and structure. Routine regenerative practices in urology for bladder augmentation have been associated with diverse side effects. The internal lining of the bladder, the urothelium, plays an integral role in normal bladder function. Tissue engineering has provided novel therapeutic strategies through scaffold...

The bladder urothelium functions as a urine-blood barrier and consists of basal, intermediate, and superficial cell populations. Reconstructive procedures such as augmentation cystoplasty and focal mucosal resection involve localized surgical damage to the bladder wall whereby focal segments of the urothelium and underlying submucosa are respectively removed or replaced and regeneration ensues....