1.

Formation and maintenance of blood-urine barrier in urothelium

Blood-urine barrier is formed during differentiation of superficial urothelial cells. Tight junctions and apical plasma membrane of umbrella cells play a critical role in the barrier maintenance. Disruption of the barrier accompany most of the urinary tract diseases. We discuss recent discoveries on the role of tight junctions, dynamics of Golgi apparatus and post-Golgi compartments, and intracellular membrane traffic during the biogenesis and maintenance of blood-urine barrier.

COBISS.SI-ID: 26965209

2.

Time- and temperature-dependent autolysis of urinary bladder epithelium during ex vivo preservation

Article presents our analysis of urinary bladder epithelial ultrastructure after extirpation from an organism. We wanted to determine the optimal temperature for preserving the urothelium to minimize the autolytic processes. This is important especially when urinary bladder is intended for transplantation. Our results prove that the room temperature is the most appripriate for short-term ex vivo preservation of urothelial tissue.

COBISS.SI-ID: 27356121

3.

Golgi apparatus fragmentation as a mechanism responsible for uniform delivery of uroplakins to the apical plasma membrane of uroepithelial cells

We characterized functional reorganization of Golgi apparatus and coincident specific microtubules and intermediate filaments rearrangements in differentiating urothelial cells. We demonstrated that morphological and functional reorganization of the Golgi and cytoskeletal dynamics promote the uniform delivery of uroplakins over the entire apical plasma membrane and thus have a major importance in the formation and maintenance of the blood-urine barrier.

COBISS.SI-ID: 27453657

4.

Protruding membrane nanotubes: attachment of tubular protrusions to adjacent cells by several anchoring junctions

In this article, we set morphological criteria that distinguish the membrane nanotubes from filopodia. On the basis of data from transmission electron microscopy, we propose a model of the nanotube attachment where the connection of nanotubes is stabilized by several anchoring junctions, most likely adherent junctions.

COBISS.SI-ID: 26823641

5.

Efficasy of a citrate-enriched mineral beverage in the prevention of calcium urolithiasis

Patients suffering from recurrent urinary calcium stone disease were randomly divided into two groups, of which first group drank citrate-enriched mineral beverage, while a control group drank the same quantity of plain water. Statistical analyses showed that citrate-enriched mineral beverage prevents the formation of calcium urolithiasis.

COBISS.SI-ID: 26664665