Three-dimensional analysis of the whole mesangium in the rat

The three-dimensional structure of the mesangium was analyzed by means of reconstruction from serial semithin and ultrathin sections of the rat glomerulus. The mesangial domains traced on light micrographs of semithin sections were transferred to styrene models, which were stacked up to reconstruct the whole mesangium. The reconstructed mesangium was tree-like in shape and was divided into three lobes that were connected to the vascular pole by a slender neck. The glomerulus contained no islets of mesangium which were not connected to the vascular pole. The mesangium contained 64 mesangial loops that were penetrated by capillaries. Reliability of the findings on the mesangial loops was ascertained by various methods including reconstruction of part of the mesangium from ultrathin sections. Electron microscopic observations revealed that the arms of the mesangial loops were frequently very slender and consisted of mesangial cell processes containing prominent bundles of actin filaments. The mesangial loops were distributed evenly within the mesangium. Considering previous reports showing about 400 capillary branches in the rat glomerulus as well as the present findings, we concluded that the mesangial loops may change the distribution of intraglomerular blood flow by dynamic contraction of the mesangial cells, or serve as an additional safety device to prevent the expansion of glomerular capillaries.