Fig. 3

Compound 48/80 reduces bladder wall thickness without permeabilizing the wall. (A–C) Plots of FITC-Dextran fluorescence intensity as a function of distance across the bladder wall for bladders exposed to vehicle, the Mrgprb2 receptor agonist compound 48/80 (0 µg/mL), and 1% Triton X-100. Neither vehicle (A) nor 50 µg/mL compound 48/80 (B) permeabilized the bladder, as shown by the stark drop in fluorescence intensity at the transition from bladder lumen to bladder wall. Triton was used as positive control and it permeabilized the urothelium to let FITC into the wall (C). The different colors of the curves represent the Ns. (D) Quantification of bladder wall thickness after being exposed to vehicle, compound 48/80 and triton. 50 µg/mL compound 48/80 significantly reduced the thickness of bladder wall collagen whereas 1% Triton had no effect on wall thickness (P = 0.022 for Control vs. C-48/80 and P = 0.333 for Control vs. Triton, N = 4). Between group comparisons were made via two-tailed, paired, Student’s t test.