Nature Biotechnology
17, 149 - 155 (1999)
doi:10.1038/6146
De novo reconstitution of a functional mammalian urinary bladder by tissue
engineeringFrank Oberpenning, Jun Meng, James J. Yoo
& Anthony Atala
Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Cellular Therapeutics,
Department of Urology, Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Anthony Atala (atala@a1.tch.harvard.edu).augmentationcystoplastyneo − bladdercystectomycell cultureHuman organ replacement is limited by a donor shortage, problems with tissue
compatibility, and rejection. Creation of an organ with autologous tissue
would be advantageous. In this study, transplantable urinary bladder neo−organs
were reproducibly created in vitro from urothelial and smooth muscle cells
grown in culture from canine native bladder biopsies and seeded onto preformed
bladder−shaped polymers. The native bladders were subsequently excised
from canine donors and replaced with the tissue−engineered neo−organs.
In functional evaluations for up to 11 months, the bladder neo−organs
demonstrated a normal capacity to retain urine, normal elastic properties,
and histologic architecture. This study demonstrates, for the first time,
that successful reconstitution of an autonomous hollow organ is possible using
tissue−engineering methods.
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