Figure 11.

Expression of LY6A and CSPG4 in the mouse bladder wall. A: the canonical fibroblast marker LY6A was expressed by PDGFRA⁺ fibroblasts in the suburothelial and outer lamina propria regions. The dashed boxed regions in the top images are magnified in the bottom images. A region with more pronounced labeling of PDGFRA⁺, LY6A⁺ suburothelial (SU) fibroblasts is shown in the third row. Examples of colocalization are indicated by yellow arrows. B: CSPG4, a transmembrane proteoglycan, was associated with blood vessels (BV) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs), particularly those in the outer longitudinal layer of the muscularis externa. In the muscle tissue, CSPG4 is likely to contribute to the endomysial connective tissue between smooth muscle cells. Mesothelial cells (MCs) are indicated. There was little colocalization of PDGFRA and CSPG4 in the bladder wall. All images are confocal micrographs and representative of images taken from four separate experiments each with two mice. Ut, urothelium.