FIG. 6.

Immunofluorescent evaluation of retrieved urethra at 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, and 6 months postimplantation. Normal urethra served for the comparison. In the BAMG group, almost no epithelial cells (labeled with cytokeratin 13) were observed on the urethral surface at 2 weeks postimplantation. Local discontinuous growth of epithelial cells was observed at 1 and 2 months postimplantation. In the Und-rASCs/BAMG group, occasional epithelial cell growth was observed at 2 weeks postimplantation. At 1 and 2 months postimplantation, a monolayer of epithelial cells was observed on the surface of local lumen, which colocalized with BrdU-labeled Und-rASCs. In the Epith-rASCs/BAMG group, the urethral surface was covered with continuous epithelial layer at 2 weeks postimplantation, which also colocalized with BrdU-labeled Epith-rASCs. At 1 and 2 months postimplantation, a local multilayered epithelial cells could be observed, and the multilayered structure of cells was more significant at 6 months postimplantation compared with the control groups (at 6 months postimplantation, no BrdU labeling could be detected by immunofluorescent staining). CK13: cytokeratin 13, green; nuclei of BrdU-labeled cells: red; nuclei of all the cells stained with Hoechst 33258: blue. Scale bars: 50 μm for original figures; 12.5 μm for insets. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea