Nephrons

location/function

• The functional unit of the kidney is a nephron, a.k.a. little scrubbers/filters, which is a long, tubular structure and associated blood vessels

• Nephrons are found in the renal cortex, but some also extend into the medulla.

• Each kidney contains about 1.3 million nephrons

anatomy

• Each nephron has two major portions:

  1. Renal corpuscle: consists of the glomerulus (a ball of capillaries) and the Bowman’s capsule (a hollow, cup-shaped structure that surrounds the glomerulus

  2. Renal tubule: a 3 cm long tube with three segments (proximal convoluted tubule, nephron loop or loop of Henle, and distal convoluted tubule)