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. 2020 Feb 1;2(2):222–225. doi: 10.1016/j.xkme.2019.11.003

Figure 2.

Figure 2

A penetrating mesangial cell (MC) and podocytes (P) make intercellular contact through the disrupted glomerular basement membrane (GBM). (A, B) Cytoplasm of an MC penetrates the urinary space through the disrupted GBM (arrows) at the 391st and 393rd sections. (C) The disrupted GBM regains continuity at the 399th section, showing marked attenuation along the cytoplasm of the penetrating MC (arrowheads). Podocytes surrounding the disrupted area exhibit foot-process effacement and pseudocyst formation (asterisks). (D, E) The corresponding MC has the hallmark dense patch (hollow arrow) beneath the cytoplasmic membrane. (F, G) Reconstructed 3-dimensional images of the penetrating cytoplasm of the MC show multiple contacting points with surrounding podocytes in the urinary space. The area marked with a dotted rectangle line in D is magnified in E. Podocytes, GBM, MCs, and intercellular contact points are yellow, brown, green, and red, respectively.