2007 JASN IMPACT FACTOR 7.111	HOME   AUTHOR INFO   EDITORIAL BOARD   SUBSCRIBE   FEEDBACK   ALERTS   HELP
advanced	CURRENT ISSUE	ARCHIVES	JASN Express	ONLINE SUBMISSION

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: ASN.2005080796v1 17/1/77    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhai, X.-Y. Articles by Christensen, E. I. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhai, X.-Y. Articles by Christensen, E. I.

Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of the Mouse Nephron

Xiao-Yue Zhai^*, Jesper S. Thomsen, Henrik Birn^*, Inger B. Kristoffersen^*, Arne Andreasen and Erik I. Christensen^*

Departments of ^* Cell Biology, Connective Tissue Biology, and Neurobiology, Institute of Anatomy, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

Address correspondence to: Dr. Erik Ilsø Christensen, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Anatomy, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark. Phone: +45-89-42-30-57; Fax: +45-86-19-86-64; E-mail: eic{at}ana.au.dk

Received for publication August 1, 2005. Accepted for publication October 1, 2005.

Renal function is crucially dependent on renal microstructure which provides the basis for the regulatory mechanisms that control the transport of water and solutes between filtrate and plasma and the urinary concentration. This study provides new, detailed information on mouse renal architecture, including the spatial course of the tubules, lengths of different segments of nephrons, histotopography of tubules and vascular bundles, and epithelial ultrastructure at well-defined positions along Henle’s loop and the distal convolution of nephrons. Three-dimensional reconstruction of 200 nephrons and collecting ducts was performed on aligned digital images, obtained from 2.5-µm-thick serial sections of mouse kidneys. Important new findings were highlighted: (1) A tortuous course of the descending thin limbs of long-looped nephrons and a winding course of the thick ascending limbs of short-looped nephrons contributed to a 27% average increase in the lengths of the corresponding segments, (2) the thick-walled tubules incorporated in the central part of the vascular bundles in the inner stripe of the outer medulla were identified as thick ascending limbs of long-looped nephrons, and (3) three types of short-looped nephron bends were identified to relate to the length and the position of the nephron and its corresponding glomerulus. The ultrastructure of the tubule segments was identified and suggests important implications for renal transport mechanisms that should be considered when evaluating the segmental distribution of water and solute transporters within the normal and diseased kidney.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. L. Pannabecker, W. H. Dantzler, H. E. Layton, and A. T. Layton Role of three-dimensional architecture in the urine concentrating mechanism of the rat renal inner medulla Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, November 1, 2008; 295(5): F1271 - F1285. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Riveira-Munoz, O. Devuyst, H. Belge, N. Jeck, L. Strompf, R. Vargas-Poussou, X. Jeunemaitre, A. Blanchard, N. V. Knoers, M. Konrad, et al. Evaluating PVALB as a candidate gene for SLC12A3-negative cases of Gitelman's syndrome Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., October 1, 2008; 23(10): 3120 - 3125. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				X.-Y. Zhai, R. A. Fenton, A. Andreasen, J. S. Thomsen, and E. I. Christensen Aquaporin-1 Is not Expressed in Descending Thin Limbs of Short-Loop Nephrons J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., November 1, 2007; 18(11): 2937 - 2944. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. L. Pallone Aquaporin 1, Urea Transporters, and Renal Vascular Bundles J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., November 1, 2007; 18(11): 2798 - 2800. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. A. Fenton and M. A. Knepper Urea and Renal Function in the 21st Century: Insights from Knockout Mice J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., March 1, 2007; 18(3): 679 - 688. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Nephrology. Online ISSN: 1533-3450 Print ISSN: 1046-6673