Figure 2.

Tubulo-interstitial ECM components and changes during fibrosis. A schematic of a healthy (A) and fibrotic tubulo-interstitium (B) with description of the major ECM-components and their alterations in fibrosis in the interstitial ECM, the tubular and the peritubular capillary basement membranes are shown. The exact composition of the basement membrane of peritubular capillaries has not been investigated. Alterations of the basement membrane of peritubular capillaries are best appreciated by electron microscopy. The right panel shows representative PAS stained human sections. Scale bars indicate 50µm. Abbreviation: ECM, extracellular matrix; PAS, periodic acid-Schiff.