Skip to main content
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1954 Jun 1;99(6):589–604. doi: 10.1084/jem.99.6.589

CELLULAR MECHANISMS OF PROTEIN METABOLISM IN THE NEPHRON

I. THE STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF PROTEINURIA; TUBULAR ABSORPTION, DROPLET FORMATION, AND THE DISPOSAL OF PROTEINS

Jean Oliver 1, Muriel MacDowell 1, Yin Chen Lee 1
PMCID: PMC2136352  PMID: 13163329

Abstract

When proteins pass the glomerular filter they are in part directly absorbed by the epithelial cells of the proximal convolution of the nephron with no apparent alteration of the cytological pattern. If the capacity of the tubule cells to thus absorb protein from the tubule fluid is exceeded either by the amount or the nature of the protein the accessory mechanism of droplet formation occurs. This accessory mechanism is an intracellular process in which cytoplasmic elements, the mitochondria with their enzymes, and the absorbed protein combine to form droplets. As the droplets form and then disappear from the renal cells their evolution presents a constantly changing picture depending on the varying nature of their protein and cytoplasmic content. The droplet is therefore not a cytological structure of fixed characteristics (hyaline droplet) but a locus of metabolic activity and varied structural aspect.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.9 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. CLARK W. G., MacKAY E. M. Effect of 1-epinephrine and 1-arterenol on egg white edema in the rat. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1949 May;71(1):86–86. doi: 10.3181/00379727-71-17090. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. LIPPMAN R. W. Mechanism of proteinuria; identity of urinary proteins in the rat following parenteral protein injection. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1949 Aug;71(4):546–549. doi: 10.3181/00379727-71-17251. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. LIPPMAN R. W., UREEN H. J., OLIVER J. Mechanism of proteinuria. IV. Effect of renin on hemoglobin excretion. J Exp Med. 1951 Jun;93(6):605–614. doi: 10.1084/jem.93.6.605. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. OLIVER J. The structure of the metabolic process in the nephron. J Mt Sinai Hosp N Y. 1948 Nov–Dec;15(4):175–222. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. POTTER V. R., RECKNAGEL R. O., HURLBERT R. B. Intracellular enzyme distribution; interpretations and significance. Fed Proc. 1951 Sep;10(3):646–653. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. RATHER L. J. Filtration, resorption, and excretion of protein by the kidney. Medicine (Baltimore) 1952 Dec;31(4):357–380. doi: 10.1097/00005792-195212000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. RIGAS D. A., HELLER C. G. The amount and nature of urinary proteins in normal human subjects. J Clin Invest. 1951 Aug;30(8):853–861. doi: 10.1172/JCI102500. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. SCHILLER A. A., SCHAYER R. W., HESS E. L. Fluorescein-conjugated bovine albumin; physical and biological properties. J Gen Physiol. 1953 Mar;36(4):489–506. doi: 10.1085/jgp.36.4.489. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Smetana H., Johnson F. R. The Origin of Colloid and Lipoid Droplets in the Epithelial Cells of the Renal Tubules. Am J Pathol. 1942 Nov;18(6):1029–1049. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Smetana H. The Permeability of the Renal Glomeruli of Several Mammalian Species to Labelled Proteins. Am J Pathol. 1947 Mar;23(2):255–267. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES