Click
here for larger view.Slide # 89 - Trans Ep Contracted/Distended Bladder, human
High magnification view of two areas of transitional epithelium. This epithelium
is much like the stratified squamous non-keratinized epithelium but, has
the ability to change the numbers of cell layers and the shape, particularly
of the apical cell layer. This epithelium is found lining only the bladder
and ureter. In the upper frame the bladder is contracted (empty) and so
the surface layer of cells has rounded up (arrows) and become almost cuboidal
in shape; in the lower frame the bladder is full and the epithelium becomes
stretched (arrows). The surface layer of cells become much more flattened
or squamous.
