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Kidney: Cell Types Composing the Tissue
The kidneys play a critical role in water and electrolyte balance in the body, removal of toxic waste products of metabolism, and production of erythropoietin, renin, and some other hormones or hormone-like substances.
Kidney Cell Types
Podocytes. The Bowman’s capsule is in the shape of a double-walled cup, consisting of an outer parietal layer and an inner visceral layer. The parietal layer is composed of a simple squamous epithelium, which becomes continuous with the simple cuboidal epithelium of the proximal convoluted tubule at the urinary pole.
The visceral layer consists of specialized epithelial cells known as podocytes. These are large, irregular star-shaped cells sharing a common basal lamina with the endothelial cells of the glomerular capillaries. Their cell bodies are located in the urinary space. Several tentacle-like primary ...
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