This article expresses the fact that the juxtaglomerular granular (JG) cells are present in the afferent arteriole, the efferent arteriole and the extraglomerular mesangium. However, they are much more numerous in the afferent arteriole.

The JG granular cells can be considered as "myoendocrine" cells, since they contain myofibrils and attachment bodies (like smooth muscle), as well as secretory granules and crystalline protogranules (like secretory endocrine cells). The picture at the top of this post is a good one to illustrate this.

Credits

Renal Corpuscle Image. 2019. Downloaded under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License from Wikimedia Commons. Author: Shypoetess. No changes were made.

Posts in this series

1. Overview

2. Overview (cont)

3. The Macula Densa Cells May Sense Tubular Salt Content Using a NHE2 Exchanger

4. The Macula Densa Cells Also Can Sense Sodium and Chloride Concentrations Using the NKCC2 Transporter

5. PGE2 Inhibits nNOS in the Macula Densa Cells

6. MAP Kinases are Activated by Low Tubular NaCl and Stimulate COX-2 Expression

7. Inhibition of nNOS in the Macula Densa leads to an Exaggerated TGF Response

8. The EP4 Receptor in the Juxtaglomerular Granular Cells Seems to be the Most Important for the Action of PGE2