Glomerular diseases account for the majority of cases with chronic renal failure. Several genes have been identified with key relevance for glomerular function. Quite a few of these genes show a specific or preferential mRNA expression in the renal glomerulus. To identify additional candidate genes involved in glomerular function in humans we generated a human renal glomerulus-enriched gene exp...

The microcirculation of the bullfrog kidney was studied by scanning electron microscopy of the corrosion casts. The bullfrog kidney derives its blood supply from a dual origin: one is from the posterior half of the body via the renal portal veins and the dorso-lumbar veins, the other is from the urogenital arteries. The renal portal veins are linked with the hepatic portal system through the an...

Neuronal synchrony is important to network behavior in many brain regions. In the olfactory bulb, principal neurons (mitral cells) project apical dendrites to a common glomerulus where they receive a common input. Synchronized activity within a glomerulus depends on chemical transmission but mitral cells are also electrically coupled. We examined the role of connexin-mediated gap junctions in m...

Antennal lobes of adult male and female Manduca sexta were compared in order to investigate the nature and extent of sexual dimorphism of the primary olfactory center of this lepidopteran species. Complete identification of the glomeruli led to the conclusion that all female glomeruli have homologous male counterparts. Thus, there is no sex-specific glomerulus present in one sex and absent in t...

Odours are represented as unique combinations of activated glomeruli in the antennal lobes of insects. Receptor neurons arborizing in the glomeruli are not only qualitatively selective, but in addition respond to variations in stimulus concentration. As each glomerulus likely represents a single receptor neuron type, optical recordings of calcium changes in insect antennal lobes show how concen...

I would like to show first the glomerulus of a 92-year-old man who did not have diabetes. It is perfectly normal. I want to emphasize that in the glomerulus there is not necessarily any ageing phenomenon per se. With the electron microscope there may be a slight increase in the thickness of the basement membrane of the glomerular capillary, but it is not visible by light microscopy. In the norm...

Spatiotemporal odour coding is thought to be linked closely with the specific glomerular anatomy of the primary olfactory centre. In most insects the number of the glomeruli within the antennal lobe is limited to fewer than 100, allowing their individual identification. In the grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana, a map of the antennal lobe glomeruli was reconstructed three-dimensionally, by compari...

The nephrotic syndrome has emerged over several centuries as the consequence of continued profuse proteinuria, arising in turn from a variety of lesions affecting the glomerulus which impair glomerular ability to retain plasma proteins, in particular, albumin. As a syndrome, it has its own complications and requires its own management irrespective of the underlying lesions. Dissection of these ...