The presence of proximal tubulelike cells in the kidney parietal epithelium in response to unilateral nephrectomy.

Five months following unilateral nephrectomy, the parietal epithelia in the remaining kidneys of Sprague-Dawley rats were examined by light and electron microscopy. Compared with controls, the kidneys from uninephrectomized rats exhibited a dramatic increase in mass characteristic of compensatory hypertrophy. Approximately 20% of the renal corpuscles in the hypertrophied kidneys had parietal epithelia lined by tall cells which possessed a brush border and other morphological characteristics of proximal tubule cells. In some instances proximal tubulelike cells made up over half of the cells lining the parietal epithelium. The possible significance of this finding is discussed.