Glomerulus

The glomerulus is a network of blood capillaries in the cup-like end (Bowman’s capsule) of the nephron, where waste products are filtered from the blood into the kidney tubule. The glomerulus is responsible for blood filtration and is composed of a tuft of capillaries whose endothelial cells are interconnected with specialized renal visceral epithelial cells, called podocytes, and with mesangial cells. The blood enters the capillaries via juxtaglomerular arterioles and glomerular filtrate is released into the Bowman's space and flows into the proximal renal tubule.