Renal Corpuscle

Study a section of the kidney, referring to R-P, Figs. 20.1, 20.3, 20.6 & Pl. 70. In the cortex, locate a renal (Malpighian) corpuscle (slide B-67, H&E [2.5x-labeled, 10x, 20x, 40x; B-68, PAS [2.5x, 10x, 20x, 40x-labeled]; B-69, PAS [2.5x, 10x, 20x, 40x]; B-70, carmine [2.5x-labeled, 10x, 20x, 40x-labeled]; B-71, H&E [2.5x, 10x, 20x, 40x]).

A renal corpuscle is the invaginated blind end of a renal tubule called Bowman's capsule. The capsule is composed of a simple squamous epithelium referred to as the parietal layer. Internally (the visceral layer) is a capillary tuft, the glomerulus, and specialized cells (refer to R-P, Fig. 20.7 & Pls. 71 & 72) that are intimately associated with the capillary tuft. These cells are the podocytes. In H&E stained sections the podocytes are difficult to see but have pale cytoplasm, and lightly stained, slightly larger, oval nuclei. The podocytes extend finger-like processes (pedicels) that wrap around the capillaries. Between the pedicels are basal lamina-covered slits that act as a filter, allowing fluid from the blood to enter the corpuscle. In the electron microscope, podocytes are seen to consist of a central cell body and numerous foot processes applied to the basal lamina of the capillary. Note the pores between the foot processes and fenestrations in the capillary wall (R-P, Figs. 20.8 & 20.11). The other major cell type within the corpuscle is the mesangial cell. These cells are difficult to distinguish from endothelial cells. Between the visceral and parietal layers of Bowman's capsule is Bowman's space, which fills up with the filtrate.

The corpuscle is a polarized structure with a vascular pole and a urinary pole (RP, Fig. 20.7). At the vascular pole, the vessel bringing blood to the glomerulus is called the afferent arteriole, and the vessel taking blood away is called the efferent arteriole. These vessels anchor the glomerulus to the wall of Bowman's capsule.

TheKidney

• Renal Corpuscle
• ProximalConvolutedTubule (PT)
• ThinTubules
• DistalConvolutedTubule (DCT)
• JuxtaglomerularApparatus
• CollectingTubules

TheUreter

UrinaryBladder

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RenalCorpuscleImages

Comments

• Yes, the solution is apt to involve tweaking the Perl code of the plugin. Let's wait unit we decide on a general layout before I involve myself in tweaking the plugin. -- LorenEvey - 21 May 2007
• There are a few breaks in the rendered HTML... I just can't figure out how to edit it out- might it require alterations to the plugin itself (not the settings that are coded to be changeable, but within the basic pligin code)? Hope you recycled a bunch! -- AshleyLPistorio - 20 May 2007
• There is not an inadvertent leading space in the header? There may be a hint in the rendered html. Right now I am in a race with closure of the recyling center. -- LorenEvey - 19 May 2007
• I'm not sure where to go to change the settings, but I did confirm that the default spacing for "detailed" view is the same as spacing for the thumbs (5px). Is there another setting that would change the padding that I'm missing? We could set it to 0 or 1 and see how much better it gets, but 5 pixels isn't a huge space. -- AshleyLPistorio - 19 May 2007
• Have you had a chance to play with the image padding? Do you think we can get better screen utilization by eliminating much of the space between the view links and the header when in detailed view? It would be nice to have the same padding as the thumbnails. This way the image would not "jump" downward when switching to a detailed view. The padding appears consistent for the navigation links. -- LorenEvey - 19 May 2007
• As it turns out, you can bookmark a "details" view. Thus, you can link to the text. You can easily "steal" the links from the thumbnails. This would provide a combination of Layout One and Two. See B-67 2.5X labeled. Sweet! -- LorenEvey - 18 May 2007
• Cool! Eventually, there might be merit to including additional info in the "header" so that the flyovers are more informative. I am not crazy about the alternations in "description" view. I suspect that I know enough of Perl to change that if you wanted. Then again, maybe there is a variable setting. I have not studied the variables. -- LorenEvey - 18 May 2007

-- AshleyLPistorio - 18 May 2007