Journal of Electron Microscopy 48(5): 629-635 (1999)
© 1999 Oxford University Press
Visualization of the interaction between blood vessels and podocytes in the mouse embryonic glomerulus using a barium-infusion method for scanning electron microscopy
Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Sciences 11 Minamiooya, Machida, Tokyo 1948511, Japan. E-mail: denkon{at}libra.ls.m-kagaku.co.jp
The present study revealed three dimensionally the formation of epithelial cells and vascular capillaries in glomeruli of the kidney of the mouse embryo. Barium sulphate was infused through the umbilical vessel of 16.517.5-day embryos and the backscattered electron (BSE) image and the secondary electron (SE) image of the identical area of glomeruli were obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The BSE images directly showed the vascular structure of the glomerulus, while the SE images showed a developmental process of podocytes from epithelial cells. Podocytes were more closely located to the vascular capillary than other epithelial cells. These findings were compared with those obtained in the resin cast model of glomeruli. Thus, the metal infusion-SEM method described here can trace the process of formation of urine filtration barrier in the mouse embryonic glomerulus.
Keywords glomerulus, embryo, back scattered electron image, injection method, metal infusion, SEM
Received 30 October 1998, accepted 5 June 1999