Quick Facts
Extraglomerular mesangial cells are lacelike cells in the pale-staining polkissen of the juxtaglomerular apparatus of the kidney; they have numerous processes to connect gap junctions and are thought to provide electrical coupling among themselves and to the mesangium and glomerular arterioles (Dorland, 2011).
Related parts of the anatomy
Structure and/or Key Feature(s)
Mesangial cells are located within the renal corpuscle and along the vascular pole as a component of the juxtaglomerular apparatus and are called extraglomerular mesangial (or lacis) cells.
Function
The primary function of mesangial cells is to remove trapped residue, etc. from the glomerular basement membrane and filtration slit diaphragm and so maintain these structures free of debris. Whilst they are phagocytic cells they are not derived from precursor cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system (monocytes). Mesangial cells also structurally support podocytes where the basement membrane is absent and synthesize and secrete molecules which have a role in responses to injury to the glomerulus. Mesangial cells also have contractile properties.
References
Dorland, W. (2011) Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 32nd edn. Philadelphia, USA: Elsevier Saunders.
