FIGURE 15.

Kidney vasculature. A: cross section of the cellular organization of a glomerulus depicts the afferent and efferent arteriole (AA, AE), the glomerular vascular loops lined by endothelial cells, as well as mesangial cells (MC) and podocytes (pod). Filtrate from the glomerular capillary tufts collects into Bowman’s space (BS). GEC, glomerular endothelial cell, PEC, parietal epithelial cell; PT, proximal tubule. B: a fenestrated GEC is shown surrounded by a podocyte with foot processes that touch the basal lamina/glomerular basement membrane. C: different stages of glomerular vascular development illustrated by sections of newborn kidneys stained with CD31 (brown staining) include the S-shaped body (left), the immature glomerulus (middle), and the mature glomerulus stage (right). D: the glomeruli in A10ΔEC mice are enlarged compared with controls and also contain enlarged glomerular capillaries (top, pointed to by arrows). Moreover, the sections of A10ΔEC glomeruli show stronger staining with MECA32, an antibody that recognizes the fenestral diaphragm protein PV-1. [A is from Scott and Quaggin (214), with permission from J Cell Biol; B is from Aird (4), with permission from Circ Res; C is from Farber et al. (69), with permission from Angiogenesis; D is from Glomski et al. (82), with permission from Blood.]