{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:28:59Z","timestamp":1785403739053,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,20]],"date-time":"2026-07-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784505600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Cathay General Hospital and Fu Jen Catholic University Education and Development Cooperation Project","award":["113-CGH-FJU-06"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["113-CGH-FJU-06"]}]},{"name":"Cardinal Tien Hospital and Fu Jen Catholic University Education and Development Cooperation Project","award":["111-CTH-FJU-03 (CTH111A-FJU-2227)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["111-CTH-FJU-03 (CTH111A-FJU-2227)"]}]},{"name":"Cardinal Tien Hospital and Fu Jen Catholic University Education and Development Cooperation Project","award":["110-CTH-FJU-04 (CTH110A-FJU-2232)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["110-CTH-FJU-04 (CTH110A-FJU-2232)"]}]},{"name":"Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan","award":["111-FJUH-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["111-FJUH-01"]}]},{"award":["111-FJUH-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["111-FJUH-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04je98850","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan","award":["CGH-MR-A11107"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CGH-MR-A11107"]}]},{"award":["CGH-MR-A11107"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CGH-MR-A11107"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03c8c9n80","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int. J. Mol. Sci.","IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a key determinant of epithelial ion transport; however, its role in lower urinary tract physiology remains unclear. This study investigated whether CFTR deficiency disrupts bladder function by altering ionic homeostasis and downstream cellular signaling. Bladder function was evaluated in 12-month-old CFTR knockout (Cftr\u2212\/\u2212) and wild-type mice (n = 8\/group) using in vivo cystometry and ex vivo detrusor contractility assays, in addition to histological, immunofluorescence, electrolyte, and Western blot analyses. Cftr\u2212\/\u2212 mice exhibited unstable cystometric profiles with irregular voiding cycles and significantly increased peak voiding pressure, indicating impaired bladder coordination. In contrast, depolarization-induced detrusor contractility was markedly reduced (0.3855 g vs. 1.908 g in wild type), despite preserved bladder morphology and unchanged \u03b1-SMA expression. CFTR deficiency was further associated with selective electrolyte imbalance (decreased Na+ and Cl\u2212, increased K+). At the molecular level, reduced cytokeratin 20 expression (p &lt; 0.01) suggested urothelial impairment, whereas increased COX-2 (p &lt; 0.05) and caspase-9 (p &lt; 0.01) indicated activation of inflammatory and apoptotic pathways. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that CFTR deficiency disrupts bladder functional homeostasis through integrated effects on ion balance, detrusor excitability and cellular signaling.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27146448","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,20]],"date-time":"2026-07-20T16:19:27Z","timestamp":1784564367000},"page":"6448","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["CFTR Deficiency Disrupts Bladder Function Through Ion Imbalance and Inflammatory\u2013Apoptotic Signaling"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Kuo-Chiang","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242062, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Urology, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei City 10630, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huei-Jiun","family":"Tzeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Program in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meng-Lin","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242062, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Urology, Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 243089, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5305-0357","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chellappan","family":"Praveen Rajneesh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242062, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Han-Sun","family":"Chiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 243089, Taiwan"},{"name":"Graduate Institute of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242062, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen-Chun","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pathology, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei City 10630, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Pathology, Cardinal Tien Hospital, New Taipei City 231403, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hung-Chune","family":"Maa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242062, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Pathology, Cardinal Tien Hospital, New Taipei City 231403, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8486-2219","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yi-No","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242062, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hanssens, L.S., Duchateau, J., and Casimir, G.J. 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