The Kidney: Structure

 Humans have two kidneys

 The kidneys are responsible for carrying out two very important functions

 As an osmoregulatory organ they regulate the water content of

the blood

• This is essential for maintaining blood pressure and to prevent cell

damage occurring due to osmosis

 As an excretory organ they enable the excretion of the toxic

waste products of metabolism, such as urea, and substances in
excess of requirements, such as salts
The gross structure of
the kidney
 The kidney itself is surrounded by an outer
layer known as the fibrous capsule

 Beneath the fibrous capsule, the kidney

has three main regions

• The cortex
• The medulla
• The renal pelvis
The microscopic structure of the
kidney
 Each kidney contains thousands of tiny tubes, or tubules, known
as nephrons

 Nephrons are the functional unit of the kidney and are responsible for
the formation of urine

 Different parts of the nephron are found in different regions of the kidney

 The cortex
• Location of the glomerulus, Bowman’s capsule, proximal
convoluted tubule, and distal convoluted tubule

 The medulla
• Location of the loop of Henle and collecting duct

 The renal pelvis

• All kidney nephrons drain into this structure, which connects to the
ureter
 There are two types of nephrons in the kidney

 Cortical nephrons

• These occur mainly in the renal cortex and have a short loop
of Henle that barely enters the medulla

• They make up about 85% of the nephrons in a human kidney

 Juxtamedullary nephrons

• They have long loops of Henle that span across the entire
medulla

• Very efficient at conserving water in the body

 There is also a network of blood
vessels associated with each nephron

 Within the Bowman’s capsule of each

nephron is a structure known as
the glomerulus

• Each glomerulus is supplied with blood by

an afferent arteriole which carries blood
from the renal artery
• The afferent arteriole splits into a ball of
capillaries that forms
the glomerulus itself
• The capillaries of the glomerulus rejoin to
form the efferent arteriole

 Blood flows from the glomerulus into a

network of capillaries that run
closely alongside the rest of the The afferent arteriole supplies the capillarie
nephron and eventually into the renal vein of the glomerulus, which rejoin to form the
 Urea as a Waste Product
Formation of urea

 The body cannot store excess protein or amino acids

 Liver cells, or hepatocytes, are responsible for removing the amino group from
excess amino acids in a process called deamination

 During deamination the amino group (-NH2) of an amino acid is removed, together
with an extra hydrogen atom

 These combine to form ammonia (NH3)

Amino Acid → ammonia + keto acid

 The remaining keto acid may enter the Krebs cycle to be respired, be converted
to glucose, or converted to glycogen / fat for storage

• This means that the amino acids within the protein will not be wasted but can
function as a useful source of energy
 Due to its toxicity ammonia is quickly converted into less toxic urea

 This happens in a series of steps known as the ornithine cycle, which can be
summarised as

ammonia + carbon dioxide → urea + water

 Urea forms part of urine and can be excreted by the kidneys

 Urea is filtered out of the bloodstream into the Bowman's capsule of the
nephron by the process of ultrafiltration
Ultrafiltration
 Within the Bowman’s capsule of each kidney
nephron is a structure known as the glomerulus;
these two structures together carry out the process
of ultrafiltration

 The blood in the glomerulus is at high pressure

• The afferent arteriole that enters the

glomerulus is wider than the efferent
arteriole that leaves it, increasing the blood
pressure as the blood flows through the glomerulus
(bottleneck effect)

 This high pressure forces small molecules in the

blood out of the capillaries of the glomerulus and
into the Bowman’s capsule

 The resulting fluid in the Bowman's capsule is called

the glomerular filtrate


During the process of
ultrafiltration small
molecules are forced
out of the capillaries
into the Bowman's
capsule
 The structures within the glomerulus and Bowman's capsule are
especially well adapted for ultrafiltration

 The blood in the glomerular capillaries is separated from the lumen of

the Bowman’s capsule by two cell layers with a basement
membrane in between them

• The first cell layer is the endothelium of the capillary; gaps

between the cells allow fluid to pass through

• The next layer is the mesh-like basement membrane

• The second cell layer is the epithelium of the Bowman’s

capsule; gaps between the cells allow the passage of small
molecules
 As blood passes through the glomerular capillaries the gaps between the
cells and the mesh-like basement membrane allow substances dissolved in
the blood plasma to pass into the Bowman’s capsule

 The substances that pass into the Bowman’s capsule make up

the glomerular filtrate

 The main substances that form the glomerular filtrate are

• Amino acids
• Water
• Glucose
• Urea
• Salts (Na+ and Cl- ions)

 Red and white blood cells and platelets remain in the blood as they are too
large to pass between the cells

 The basement membrane stops large protein molecules from getting

through
 Selective Reabsorption in the Kidney

 The nephron is the functional unit of the kidney and is responsible for
the formation of urine

 The process of urine formation in the kidneys occurs in two stages

• Ultrafiltration
• Selective reabsorption

 Ultrafiltration involves filtering small molecules from the blood at high

pressure

• This occurs between the glomerulus and the bowman's capsule

 Selective reabsorption allows the kidney to reabsorb useful small molecules

into the blood
Selective reabsorption

 Many of the substances that pass into the glomerular filtrate are useful to the
body

 These substances are therefore reabsorbed into the blood as the filtrate passes
along the nephron

 This process is known as selective reabsorption since not all substances are
reabsorbed

• Reabsorbed substances include water, salts, glucose, and amino acids

 Most of this reabsorption occurs in the proximal convoluted tubule

• Note that while water and salts are reabsorbed in the proximal convoluted
tubule, the loop of Henle and collecting duct are also involved in the
reabsorption of these substances
 The lining of the proximal convoluted tubule is composed of a single
layer of epithelial cells which are adapted to carry out
reabsorption in several ways

 Microvilli

• Microvilli are tiny finger-like projections on the surface of

epithelial cells which increase the surface area for diffusion

 Co-transporter proteins
 Many mitochondria
 Tightly packed cells
Molecules reabsorbed from the Proximal Convoluted
Tubule
 Sodium ions (Na+) are transported from the proximal convoluted tubule into
the surrounding tissues by active transport

 The positively charged sodium ions creates an electrical gradient,

causing chloride ions (Cl-) to follow by diffusion

 Sugars and amino acids are transported into the surrounding tissues by co-
transporter proteins which also transport sodium ions

 The movement of ions, sugars, and amino acids into the surrounding
tissues lowers the water potential of the tissues, so water leaves the
proximal convoluted tubule by osmosis

 Urea moves out of the proximal convoluted tubule from a high to a low
concentration by diffusion

 All of the substances that leave the proximal convoluted tubule for the
surrounding tissues eventually make their way into nearby
capillaries down their concentration gradients
The role of the loop of Henle
 Many animals deal with the excretion of the toxic waste product urea by dissolving it in
water and excreting it

 While this method of excretion works well, it brings with it the problem of water loss

 The role of the loop of Henle is to enable the production of urine that is more
concentrated than the blood, and to therefore conserve water

• Note that it is also possible to produce urine that is less concentrated than the blood;
this is important when water intake is high to prevent blood becoming too dilute

 The loop of Henle achieves this by the use of a countercurrent multiplier system

• Countercurrent refers to the opposite directions of filtrate flow in the descending

and ascending limbs of the loop of Henle

• Multiplier refers to the steep concentration gradient that the loop of Henle is able to
generate across the medulla
The process in the loop of Henle
 Sodium and chloride ions move out of the filtrate in the ascending
limb of the loop of Henle into the surrounding medulla region, lowering
its water potential

 The movement of ions occurs by both diffusion and active transport

• Diffusion takes place in the first part of the ascending limb

• Active transport occurs in the second part of the ascending limb

 The ascending limb of the loop of Henle is impermeable to water, so

water is unable to leave the loop here by osmosis
 The water potential in the ascending limb increases as it
rises back into the cortex due to the removal of
solutes and retention of water
 The neighbouring descending limb is permeable to water, so water moves out of
the descending limb by osmosis due to the low water potential in the medulla
created by the ascending limb

• The descending limb has few transport proteins in the membranes of its cells,
so has low permeability to ions

• The water potential of the filtrate decreases as the descending limb

moves down into the medulla due to the loss of water and retention of ions

 The water and ions that leave the loop of Henle for the medulla make their way into
the nearby capillary network
 OSMOREGULATION
 The control of the water potential of body fluids is known as osmoregulation
 Osmoregulation is a key part of homeostasis

 Specialised sensory receptors, known as osmoreceptors, monitor the water potential of

the blood
 These osmoreceptors are found in an area of the brain known as the hypothalamus

 If the osmoreceptors detect a decrease in the water potential of the blood, nerve impulses
are sent along sensory neurones to the posterior pituitary gland, located just below the
hypothalamus

 These nerve impulses stimulate the posterior pituitary gland to release antidiuretic
hormone (ADH)

 ADH molecules enter the blood and travel throughout the body
 ADH causes the kidneys to reabsorb more water
 This reduces the loss of water in the urine
The effect of ADH on the kidneys
Low blood water content

 Blood water content might drop as a result of reduced water intake, sweating,
or diarrhoea

• Low blood water content can also be referred to as high blood solute
concentration, or low blood water potential
• If blood water content gets too low it can lead to dehydration

 A reduction of blood water content is detected by the hypothalamus in the brain

•The hypothalamus causes the pituitary gland to secrete ADH into the blood

• The target cells of ADH are in the distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct in the
kidneys

 ADH increases the permeability of the walls of the distal convoluted

tubule and collecting duct in the kidneys to water
 The permeability of the walls of the distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct are
increased by increasing the number of channel proteins called aquaporins in the
cell surface membranes of the cells lining the nephron lumen; this occurs in the
following way
 Collecting duct cells contain vesicles, the membranes of which contain
many aquaporins
 ADH molecules bind to receptor proteins, activating a signalling cascade that
causes the vesicles to move to and fuse with the luminal membranes of
the collecting duct cells
 This increases the permeability of the membrane to water

 More water is reabsorbed into the blood via the distal convoluted tubule and
collecting duct

 The reabsorption of water leaves a concentrated filtrate that passes through the
collecting duct and into the renal pelvis
 This remaining filtrate is the urine; from the renal pelvis it passes along the ureter
to the bladder

 The blood water content increases and a small quantity of concentrated

urine is produced
High blood water content
 Blood water content might increase due to increased water intake or loss of salts during
sweating
 High blood water content can also be referred to as low blood solute
concentration, or high blood water potential
 If blood water content gets too high it can lead to overhydration

 High blood water content is detected by the hypothalamus

 The hypothalamus no longer stimulates the pituitary gland to release ADH and
ADH levels in the blood drop

 The distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct walls become less permeable
to water
 Fewer aquaporins are present

 Less water is reabsorbed from these regions of the nephron into the blood, and the
water instead passes down the collecting duct into the renal pelvis along with the rest of
the filtrate

 Blood water content decreases and a large quantity of dilute urine is