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Which cell type wraps around the endothelium of the glomerulus to create a barrier between the glomerulus and the Bowman’s capsule?

Question

Which cell type wraps around the endothelium of the glomerulus to create a barrier between the glomerulus and the Bowman’s capsule?

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Solution

The cell type that wraps around the endothelium of the glomerulus to create a barrier between the glomerulus and the Bowman’s capsule is called the Podocyte.

Here are the steps to understand this:

  1. The glomerulus is a network of tiny blood vessels, or capillaries, in the kidney. The function of the glomerulus is to filter the blood and remove excess wastes and fluid in the form of urine.

  2. The Bowman's capsule is a cup-like sac at the beginning of the tubular component of a nephron in the mammalian kidney that performs the first step in the filtration of blood to form urine.

  3. The barrier between the glomerulus and the Bowman's capsule is crucial to prevent large molecules, such as proteins, from being filtered out of the blood and into the urine.

  4. This barrier is created by a type of cell called a podocyte. Podocytes have long, finger-like projections called foot processes, or pedicels, that wrap around the capillaries of the glomerulus.

  5. The spaces between the foot processes of the podocytes are covered by a thin membrane called the slit diaphragm, which acts as a filtration barrier.

  6. Therefore, the podocytes and their foot processes and slit diaphragms form the final barrier to protein loss in the urine, preventing the filtration of large molecules while allowing smaller molecules, such as water and ions, to pass into the Bowman's capsule and form the initial filtrate that will become urine.

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