Interstitial interfaces show marked differences in regenerating tubules, matured tubules, and the renal stem/progenitor cell niche.

Stem/progenitor cells are promising candidates for the regeneration of parenchyma in acute and chronic renal failure. After an implantation stem/progenitor cells must migrate through the interstitial space to concentrate at the site of damage. However, information is lacking to what extent the interstitial interface is influencing the development of stem/progenitor cells into nephron structures. In consequence, tubule regeneration within an artificial polyester interstitium was analyzed by electron microscopy in comparison with the interstitial interface of matured tubules and the interstitium within the renal stem/progenitor cell niche. The experiments demonstrate that fixation of specimens with glutaraldehyde (GA) is leading in all cases to inconspicuously looking interstitial interfaces. In contrast, fixation of regenerating tubules in GA containing ruthenium red and tannic acid shows a dense network of fibers lining along the basal lamina. In contrast, matured tubules reveal after ruthenium red label an extremely thickened basal lamina, while only a punctate pattern is obtained after tannic acid treatment. Finally, within the renal stem/progenitor cell niche ruthenium red and tannic acid label reveals large amounts of extracellular matrix spanning through the interstitium. Thus, fixation of tissue in GA containing ruthenium red and tannic acid exhibits an unexpectedly regional heterogeneity of the renal interstitial interface. This fact has to be considered for an optimal therapeutic repair of parenchyma, since contacts between stem/progenitor cells with the interstitial interface influence further development.