Figure 1.

Study of the kidney requires consideration of both the role of each segment and the three-dimensional architecture. (A) Homer Smith’s rectilinear nephron mimics the straight trajectory of the fish nephron. (B) The human nephron is more intricate; the distal nephron greets its own glomerulus before it returns to the environs established by the loop of Henle. TX, treatment. A is modified from reference 1, with permission.