The kidney is divided into 2 parts: the cortex and the medulla.
The fundamental unit of the kidney is the nephron
(review the parts of the nephron). The renal corpuscles are located
in the cortex. The medulla is made primarily of collecting ducts.
As a result, you can identify the cortex and the medulla based upon
the presence or absence of the renal corpuscles.
Photo taken by T. Carrera
Cortex of Kidney (200x).
Renal corpuscles (circled in black) is a collective term for both the glomerular
(Bowman's) capsule and a specialized capillary bed (the glomerulus).
Both the glomerulus and the capsule are made of simple
squamous epithelium. Surrounding the corpuscles are multiple
convoluted tubules (two of them are circled in blue) made of simple
cuboidal epithelial tissue. We may have used both of these structures
as examples in the histology lab. Renal corpuscles are only found
in the cotex of the kidney.
Photo taken by T. Carrera
Kidney (400x) Renal corpuscles are circled in black. Surrounding
the corpuscles are the convoluted tubules (three of them are circled in
blue) made of simple
cuboidal epithelial tissue.
Photo taken by T. Carrera
Renal Corpuscle (1000x) While
we do not have microscopes that can obtain this magnification in lab, this
image is useful because the components of the renal corpuscle are easy
to label. Once you have viewed them here, look at the previous slides
and identify the structures there. The black line is designating
the basement membrane of the parietal layer of the glomerular corpuscle.
The green arrows are pointing some of the many nuclei of the simple
squamous epithelium. The yellow line encompasses both the visceral
layer of the glomerular capsule and the glomerulus. Remember, this
is where filtration takes place.
Back to Top
Back to Index Page
Back to Course
Supplements
See the transitional epithelium in both the contracted and distended bladder.
Photo taken by T. Carrera
Distended bladder (200x) The light blue arrow indicates
the mucosa (transitional
epithelium), the green bracket indicates the submucosa and the yellow
bracket indicates the muscularis.