Figure 3.

An electron micrograph of a glomerular capillary from an adult PEXTKO mouse. The glomerular basement membrane is pseuodocolored green, Bowman’s capsule gold, and an adjacent proximal tubule purple. The cell bodies of three podocytes (P) extend into Bowman’s space, two of the podocytes show abnormal connections between the glomerular basement membrane and Bowman’s capsule; in some areas (black arrows), the podocytes appear to be forming pedicels on the capsule itself. The pedicels of all three podocytes show some degree of effacement at the point of contact with the glomerular basement membrane. All three podocytes exhibit microvillous transformation. The glomerular basement membrane is irregular in outline, and numerous “bumps” of basement membrane material that extend from the outer border can be found throughout its entire length. The glomerular endothelial cell (E) also shows some degree of abnormality; in some areas there appears to be lost of fenestrae. Final magnification, 2,950×; scale bar = 10 μm.