Gerard Apodaca

Afferent C fibers release neuropeptides including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Here, we show that the specific CGRP receptor antagonist, BIBN409BS, ameliorates lower urinary tract symptoms and pelvic allodynia in mice inoculated with uropathogenic E. coli. Using fluorescent in situ hybridization, we identified a population of suburothelial fibroblasts in the lamina propria that expresses the canonical CGRP receptor. Our findings indicate that CGRP contributes to the transmission of nociceptive information arising from the bladder.

We currently lack basic insights into the fibroblasts that populate the bladder wall. By exploring the ultrastructure of mouse bladder connective tissue cells, combined with analyses of their gene and protein expression, our study revealed that PDGRA + interstitial cells (also referred to as myofibroblasts, telocytes, and interstitial cells of Cajal-like cells) are fibroblasts and that the bladder wall contains multiple, regionally distinct populations of these cells.