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Electron microscopy has been extensively used in morphological studies of kidney to reveal ultrastructural details beyond the resolving power of the light microscope. Such studies carried out on human adult kidney are performed on autopsy, biopsy, or surgical samples. Because glomeruli usually are better preserved than are kidney tubules during processing for electron microscopy, studies tended to concentrate mainly on glomerular ultrastructure in the mature kidney, adding relatively little information on tubular fine structure. Moreover, the focus of pathologists on glomerular dysfunction during renal disease has resulted in inattention to kidney development, so that little ultrastructural data on nephrogenesis has been adduced. As a result, many questions on this matter remain to be answered. Recently, however, growing interest in renal regeneration has led to the emergence of ultrastructural investigations on mammalian kidney development. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy, together with recent light microscopic insights, are highlighting the morphofunctional events that characterize the early stages of kidney development and new hypotheses are coming forth. |
