Nephron

• ·       The homeostatic control of blood water potential is called osmoregulation, done by the kidney.
• ·       Each of the two kidneys is made up of: the fibrous capsule (outer protective membrane), the cortex (lighter outer region that contains renal capsules, convoluted tubules and blood vessels), the medulla (darker inner region made up of loops of Henle, collecting ducts and blood vessels), the renal pelvis that collects urine into the ureter (a tube that carriers urine to the bladder), the renal artery (enters kidney) and the renal vein (exits kidney).
• ·       Different structures within the nephron include: the glomerulus, the Bowman’s Capsule, the proximal convoluted tubule, the loop of Henle, the distal convoluted tubule and the collecting duct.
• ·       The glomerulus is a knot of arterial capillaries with a single cell wall that does ultrafiltration and the Bowman’s capsule is a double walled cup that surrounds the glomerulus (collecting its filtered products).
• ·       The proximal convoluted tubule is a long filtered tube that does selective reabsorption of materials need such as glucose and passive reabsorption of water.
• ·       The loop of Henle is an elongated tube with a hairpin bend that does selective reabsorption of water by osmosis.
• ·       The distal convoluted tubule is a long tubule that does selective reabsorption of water by osmosis and some salts by active transport.
• ·       The collecting duct is the tube transporting urine to the ureter that does final selective reabsorption of water using ADH and drains the urine after collection.