Abstract
Summary
Cortical tissues from the kidneys of rats were infused with a suspension of lanthanum hydroxide, or were placed in fixatives containing lanthanum to visualize intermolecular spaces in the glomerular basement membrane. Lanthanum particles were seen in aggregates throughout the basement membrane. The diameter of the aggregates varied between 20 and 200 Å. The diameter of the majority of aggregates ranged from 40 to 75 Å. Aggregates with diameters greater than 150 Å were located mainly in the lamina rara interna, less in the lamina rara externa.
It is concluded that the basement membrane is a random porous molecular filter and the lamina densa is the rate limiting structure in the glomerular filtration of macromolecules.
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