Keast/Osborne Group

Project Description

This GUDMAP Atlas project is focused on the lower urinary tract (LUT; bladder and urethra) of male and female mice. The Specific Aims are to build 3D multiscale anatomical atlases of (1) the mouse LUT vasculature and (2) the autonomic and sensory innervation of this vasculature. Times of the life cycle from embryo to adult have been selected to reveal the impact of major changes in organ structure and function on vascular patterning. The outcomes of Aim 1 will fill a major gap in GUDMAP and the broader literature, where LUT vascular structures have been under-explored in comparison with LUT muscle wall and epithelium. The outcomes of Aim 2 will provide a second important dimension to GUDMAP and the literature, by superimposing on the vascular atlases the closely associated axonal plexuses (sensory and autonomic) that regulate LUT vascular function. Most of these axon classes do not originate from pelvic ganglia, so provide to the GUDMAP database new resources that are quite distinct from the existing knowledge base. In addition to developing new knowledge on the vascular system, the outcomes of the project will support generation of new hypotheses on LUT function in health and disease.