Summary
The luminal surface ultrastructure of the mature mesonephric nephron in 18 day rabbit embryos was studied in order to classify the nephron segments and to compare them with their metanephric counterparts. The proximal tubule has two slightly different segments. Its brush-bordered cells, with lateral ridges and basal microvilli (revealed in disjoined cells) exhibit structural principles similar to those of metanephric cells. The short distal tubule, starting with an abrupt border, cannot be subdivided. Its surface differs from one specimen to the next; the various cellular patterns are regarded as different functional states rather than evidence of a true cellular heterogeneity. Cells with leaf-like meandering borders correspond to similar metanephric cells favoring a paracellular transport mechanism. The collecting tubule shares common features with the metanephric collecting duct in spite of its different origin. Among principal cells, clearly demarcated by marginal microvillous rows and studded with sparse apical microvilli, non-ciliated and strongly bulging intercalated cells occur in small numbers. The latter have exaggerated, sometimes branched microvilli, and occasional microplicae. In the Wolffian duct, which has no metanephric counterpart, the single cilia dominate the picture of a homogeneous cell population. Apical globular protrusions of the tubular epithelia, which have been depicted in almost every paper on the mesonephros, are all fixation artefacts that can only be avoided by properly perfusing the living embryo.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen F, Tisher CC (1976) Morphology of the ascending thick limb of Henle. Kidney Int 9:8–22
Andrews PM (1975) Scanning electron microscopy of human and rhesus monkey kidneys. Lab Invest 32:610–618
Andrews PM, Porter KR (1974) A scanning electron microscopy study of the nephron. Am J Anat 140:81–116
Bernier N, Beaumont A (1964) Structure et régression du mésonéphros du foetus de lapin. C R Soc Biol (Paris) 158:2227–2230
Bremer JL (1916) The interrelations of the mesonephros, kidney and placenta in different classes of animals. Am J Anat 19:179–210
Bulger RE, Siegel FL, Pendergrass R (1974) Scanning and transmission electron microscopy of the rat kidney. Am J Anat 139:483–502
Davies J, Routh JI (1957) Composition of the foetal fluids of the rabbit. J Embryol Exp Morphol 5:32–39
Evan AP, Hay DA, Dail WG (1978) SEM of the proximal tubule of the adult rabbit kidney. Anat Rec 191:397–414
Le Furgey A, Tisher CC (1979) Morphology of rabbit collecting duct. Am J Anat 155:111–124
Gersh I (1937) The correlation of structure and function in the developing mesonephros and metanephros. Contr Embryol Carneg Inst XXVI 153:33–58
Jacob HJ, Christ B, Jacob M (1977) Rasterelektronenmikroskopische Befunde am Mesonephros von Hühnerembryonen. Verh Anat Ges 71:903–907
Kaissling B (1979) (personal communication)
Kaissling B, Kriz W (1979) Structural analysis of the rabbit kidney. Adv Anat Embryol 56:1–121
Karnovsky MJ (1965) A formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde fixative of high osmolarity for use in electron microscopy. J Cell Biol 27:137a-138a
Krause WJ, Cults JH, Leeson CR (1979) Morphological observations on the mesonephros in the postnatal opossum, Didelphis virginiana. J Anat (Lond) 129:377–397
Kriz W, Kaissling B, Schiller A, Taugner R (1979) Morphologische Merkmale transportierender Epithelien. Klin Woschr 57:967–975
Leeson TS (1957) The fine structure of the mesonephros of the 17-day rabbit embryo. Exp Cell Res 12:670–672
Leeson TS (1959) An electron microscopic study of the mesonephros and metanephros of the rabbit. Am J Anat 105:165–195
Leeson TS (1960) Electron microscopy of the developing kidney: An investigation into the fine structure of the mesonephros and metanephros of the rabbit. J Anat (Lond) 94:100–106
Mills JW, Malick LE (1978) Mucosal surface morphology of the toad urinary bladder. J Cell Biol 77:598–610
Miyoshi M (1978) Scanning electron microscopy of the renal corpuscle of the mesonephros in the lamprey, Entosphenus japonicus Martens. Cell Tissue Res 187:105–113
Morris JL, Campbell G (1978) Renal vascular anatomy of the toad (Bufo marinus). Cell Tissue Res 189:501–514
Pfaller W, Klima J (1976) A critical reevaluation of the structure of the rat uriniferous tubule as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. Cell Tissue Res 166:91–100
Schønheyder HC, Maunsbach AB (1975) Ultrastructure of a specialized neck region in the rabbit nephron. Kidney Int 7:145–153
Stokes JB, Tisher CC, Kokko JP (1978) Structural-functional heterogeneity along the rabbit collecting tubule. Kidney Int 14:585–593
Strauser ER (1928) Evidence concerning the functional capacity of the mesonephros of the rabbit. Anat Rec 38:30
Tiedemann K (1976) The mesonephros of the cat and sheep. Comparative morphological and histochemical studies. Adv Anat Embryol 52/3:1–119
Tiedemann K (1979) Architecture of the mesonephric nephron in pig and rabbit. Anat Embryol 157:105–112
Welling DJ, Welling LW (1979) Cell shape as an indicator of volume reabsorption in proximal nephron. Fed Proc 38:121–127
Welling DJ, Welling LW, Hill JJ (1978) Phenomenological model relating cell shape to water reabsorption in proximal nephron. Am J Physiol 234: F 308–317
Welling LW, Welling DJ (1976) Shape of epithelial and intercellular channels in the rabbit proximal nephron. Kidney Int 9:385–394
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tiedemann, K., Wettstein, R. The mature mesonephric nephron of the rabbit embryo. Cell Tissue Res. 209, 95–109 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219926
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219926