The Glomerular Basement Membrane A Selective Macromolecular Filter

Abstract

The basement membrane of the glomerular capillaries of the mammalian kidney has been a favorite object for studies on the structure, function, and composition of basement membranes because of its important biological role in glomerular filtration of macromolecules, and because of the relative ease with which it can be isolated for study, free from contamination by other extracellular matrix components. This chapter will review what is known about the characteristics of the glomerular basement membrane (hereafter abbreviated as GBM) and will compare wherever possible the available data with those on basement membranes from other sources.