Figure 1.

Examples of renal tubular histology in control and HgCl₂‐treated mice, given or not given bone marrow cells (BMCs); periodic acid–Schiff stain (original magnifications). Renal tubular cells appeared normal in the control period (a, ×200) and in mice given BMCs throughout the experiment (b, ×200). Three days after HgCl₂, renal tubular epithelial damage and tubular cell mitoses were seen in HgCl₂‐treated mice given and not given BMCs (c and d, ×400). Black arrows indicate extensive renal tubular damage and necrosis (c, d) and white arrows indicate tubular epithelial mitosis (d). Seven days after HgCl₂ damage, regenerative tubules with hypercellularity were seen in HgCl₂‐treated mice given (e, ×400) or not given BMCs (f, ×400 and g, ×600). Dashed black arrows indicate apoptotic cells. Four weeks after HgCl₂, most damaged tubules have regenerated in HgCl₂‐treated mice given or not given BMCs (h and i, ×200). A blue arrow indicates A Y‐positive donor cell (brown dot) with megalin staining (red colour) (j, ×1000).