Fig. 6. A schematic model of the 16 nm uroplakin particle. (A) A model in which the inner subdomains, outer subdomains and the joints of the 16 nm urothelial particle are represented by blue cylinders, green cylinders and yellow flexible hinges, respectively. The transmembrane zone is indicated with darker colors. (B) A tilted view of the model. (C) A hypothetical scheme in which the bending of the joint region (yellow) caused by bacterial binding leads to a twist between the inner and outer subdomains; conformational changes such as this may play a role in the transmembrane signal transduction causing urothelial umbrella cells to undergo morphological and physiological changes.

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