Figure 9.

At the underactive 30-wk time point, β-catenin (BCAT) gene expression is upregulated by diabetes, but not uroplakin and tight junction gene expression. Urothelia were scraped from excised bladders, and quantitative PCR was used to measure gene expression of uroplakin subunits UP1b and UP2, tight junction components zona occludens and 2 (ZO1 and ZO2, respectively), claudin 4 and 8 (CL4 and CL8, respectively), and the adherens junction component BCAT. A–D: at 30 wk, diabetes did not significantly alter gene expression of the uroplakin subunits UP1b or UP2; NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) gene deletion had no further impact on gene expression. E–L: similarly, at 30 wk, gene expression of tight junction components ZO1, ZO2, CL4, and CL8 were not significantly different between nondiabetic control and diabetic mice either with or without NLRP3. M: surprisingly, BCAT was upregulated in diabetic NLRP3^+/+ compared with nondiabetic urothelia. N: BCAT gene expression was comparable between diabetic mice without the NLRP3 gene and nondiabetic NLRP3^−/− mice. Respective n (animals) per group, per condition: UP1b (6, 7, 6, and 9), UP2 (6, 7, 6, and 9), ZO1 (6, 7, 6, and 9), ZO2 (6, 7, 7, and 8), CL4 (6, 7, 6, and 9), CL8 (6, 6, 6, and 6), and BCAT (6, 7, 6, and 9). *P < 0.05 vs. nondiabetic control mice (Student’s t test).