The juxtaglomerular apparatus as studied electron microscopically - Latta, H.; Maunsbach, A.B.; with the technical collaboration of Margery L. Cook (Elsevier)
The juxtaglomerular apparatus of the rat kidney has been studied electron microscopically. Three parts and their intimate relationships are described in some detail: (1) the macula densa of the distal convoluted tubule, (2) the granular epithelioid cells, commonly found in the wall of the afferent arteriole, and (3) the cells of the ''lacis'' of Oberling and Hatt, or the pseudo-meissnerian cells of Goormaghtigh.The cells of the macula densa vary in fine structure from other cells of the distal convoluted tubule, and lying close under them are processes of both granular and lacis cells. Granular cells may contain, besides two or more types of granules, fibrillar bundles resembling those of smooth muscle. Lacis cells may lie beneath the endothelium of the afferent arteriole. Their cytoplasm usually contains prominent membrane systems, and may have granules and fibrillar bundles like those of granular cells. The evidence suggests that lacis cells are related to granular cells and that both may be derived from smooth muscle.Functional implications of these observations are discussed.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5320(62)80009-4
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