Renal corpuscle structure
Blood flows in the afferent arteriole at the top, and out the efferent arteriole at the bottom. Blood flows through the capillaries of the glomerulus, where it is filtered by pressure. The podocytes (green) are wrapped around the capillaries. Blood is filtered through the slit diaphragm (or filtration slit), between the feet or processes of the podocytes. The filtered blood passes out the proximal tubule (yellow) on the right.
Details
Precursor
Intermediate mesoderm
Location
Bowman's capsule of the kidney
Identifiers
Latin
podocytus
MeSH
D050199
FMA
70967
Anatomical terms of microanatomy
[edit on Wikidata]
Podocytes are cells in Bowman's capsule in the kidneys that wrap around capillaries of the glomerulus. Podocytes make up the epithelial lining of Bowman's capsule, the third layer through which filtration of blood takes place.[1] Bowman's capsule filters the blood, retaining large molecules such as proteins while smaller molecules such as water, salts, and sugars are filtered as the first step in the formation of urine. Although various viscera have epithelial layers, the name visceral epithelial cells usually refers specifically to podocytes, which are specialized epithelial cells that reside in the visceral layer of the capsule.
The podocytes have long foot processes called pedicels, for which the cells are named (podo- + -cyte). The pedicels wrap around the capillaries and leave slits between them. Blood is filtered through these slits, each known as a filtration slit, slit diaphragm, or slit pore.[2] Several proteins are required for the pedicels to wrap around the capillaries and function. When infants are born with certain defects in these proteins, such as nephrin and CD2AP, their kidneys cannot function. People have variations in these proteins, and some variations may predispose them to kidney failure later in life. Nephrin is a zipper-like protein that forms the slit diaphragm, with spaces between the teeth of the zipper big enough to allow sugar and water through but too small to allow proteins through. Nephrin defects are responsible for congenital kidney failure. CD2AP regulates the podocyte cytoskeleton and stabilizes the slit diaphragm.[3][4]
^"Podocyte" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
^Lote CJ (2012). "Glomerular Filtration". Principles of Renal Physiology (5th ed.). New York: Springer Science+Business Media. p. 34. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3785-7_3. ISBN 978-1-4614-3784-0.
^Wickelgren I (October 1999). "First components found for new kidney filter". Science. 286 (5438): 225–226. doi:10.1126/science.286.5438.225. PMID 10577188. S2CID 43237744.
^Löwik MM, Groenen PJ, Levtchenko EN, Monnens LA, van den Heuvel LP (November 2009). "Molecular genetic analysis of podocyte genes in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis--a review". European Journal of Pediatrics. 168 (11): 1291–1304. doi:10.1007/s00431-009-1017-x. PMC 2745545. PMID 19562370.
Podocytes are cells in Bowman's capsule in the kidneys that wrap around capillaries of the glomerulus. Podocytes make up the epithelial lining of Bowman's...
the glomerular basement membrane, and the filtration slits between the podocytes perform the filtration function of the glomerulus, separating the blood...
histopathologic finding of scarring (sclerosis) of glomeruli and damage to renal podocytes. This process damages the filtration function of the kidney, resulting...
These are diffuse loss of visceral epithelial cells' foot processes (i.e., podocyte effacement), vacuolation, and growth of microvilli on the visceral epithelial...
layer, composed of modified simple squamous epithelium, is lined by podocytes. Podocytes have foot processes, pedicles, that wrap around glomerular capillaries...
fenestrated endothelial cells, the glomerular basement membrane, and the podocytes of epithelial cells. Nephrin is a transmembrane protein that is a structural...
capillary wall, its basement membrane, and between the foot processes of the podocytes of the lining of the capsule. The tubule has adjacent peritubular capillaries...
to the podocyte within the glomerulus of the kidney. This circulating factor damages the podocyte which changes its structure. The podocytes are now...
diffuse. In the renal glomerulus there are cells with no diaphragms, called podocyte foot processes or pedicels, which have slit pores with a function analogous...
the basal lamina from the endothelium of glomerular capillaries and the podocyte basal lamina, and between lung alveoli and pulmonary capillaries, by the...
related to the induction of c-mip in Hodgkin-Reed Sternberg cells and podocytes". Blood. 115 (18): 3756–62. doi:10.1182/blood-2009-11-251132. PMC 2890576...
blood. Inflammation that affects the cells surrounding the glomerulus, podocytes, increases the permeability to proteins, resulting in an increase in excreted...
SB.; Basgen, JM.; Sinha, S. (2011). "Using stereologic techniques for podocyte counting in the mouse: shifting the paradigm". Am J Nephrol. 33 (Suppl...
glomerular basement membrane is a special case, consisting of a fusion of the podocyte and endothelial basal laminas, and lacking a lamina reticularis. Thus,...
thickening of the basement membrane, a widening of the slit membranes of the podocytes, an increase in the number of mesangial cells, and an increase in mesangial...
kidney, also called the renal pedicle Pedicel, a foot process of a renal podocyte Pedicle in brachiopods, a fleshy line used to attach and anchor brachiopods...
form a glomerular functional unit with glomerular endothelial cells and podocytes through interactions of molecular signalling pathways which are essential...
Syndrome, and hepatitis B, and some cancers, including multiple myeloma. Podocytes are specialized cells that make up parts of the lining of the glomerulus...
Podocin is a protein component of the filtration slits of podocytes. Glomerular capillary endothelial cells, the glomerular basement membrane and the...
caused by AGEs and the other pathways, causes apoptosis of pericytes and podocytes in the retina and the kidneys respectively leading to capillary wall fragility...
Gene therapy has been frequently discussed, but delivering it to the podocytes in the glomerulus that normally produce the type IV collagen in the glomerular...
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