File:Rat kidney HIM 03.jpg

Adult Rat Kidney Collecting Duct Principal Cell HIM

Each principal cell has one long, solitary cilium and numerous short, stubby microvilli. Collecting duct principal cells mediate the collecting duct's influence on sodium and potassium balance through sodium and potassium channels located on the cell's apical membrane.

High magnification view of a principal cell cilium (Bar = 200 nm). At its base, a concentric pattern of surface protrusions (arrows) can be seen in the position of the ciliary necklace. A similar structure is shown on another principal cell cilium in the inset (arrows, Bar = 100 nm).

A new technique called Helium Ion Microscopy (HIM) gives similar high resolution 3D images, using a scanning beam of He⁺ ions, and fixed tissue without the coating required for SEM.

HIM Image Links: Kidney Glomerulus | Collecting Tubule - Principal and Intercalated Cell | Principal Cell - cilium and microvilli | Principal Cell - cilium and microvilli | Renal System Development | Rat Development | Scanning Electron Microscopy

Reference

<pubmed>23505418</pubmed>| PMC3591388 | PLoS One.

Copyright

© 2013 Rice et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Journal.pone.0057051.g006 Original figure 6 Panel B cropped from full image, adjusted in size, contrast and labelling. Journal.pone.0057051.g006c.jpg