NEPHRON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nephron mean? 

• NEPHRON (noun)
  The noun NEPHRON has 1 sense:

1. any of the small tubules that are the excretory units of the vertebrate kidney

  Familiarity information: NEPHRON used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NEPHRON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of the small tubules that are the excretory units of the vertebrate kidney

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

nephron; uriniferous tubule

Hypernyms ("nephron" is a kind of...):

tubule (a small tube)

Meronyms (parts of "nephron"):

malpighian body; malpighian corpuscle; renal corpuscle (the capsule that contains Bowman's capsule and a glomerulus at the expanded end of a nephron)

Holonyms ("nephron" is a part of...):

kidney (either of two bean-shaped excretory organs that filter wastes (especially urea) from the blood and excrete them and water in urine)

 Context examples 

One of the important roles of the collecting duct segment of the kidney nephron is acid secretion.

(Collecting Duct Acid Secretion Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

The irregular portion of the nephron.

(Irregular Tubule, NCI Thesaurus)

After three months, an examination of the tissue revealed that nephrons: the microscopic structural and functional units of the kidney — had formed.

(Scientists Create Functioning Kidney Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Inside each kidney about a million tiny structures called nephrons filter blood.

(Kidney Diseases, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

The curved portion of the nephron.

(Curved Tube, NCI Thesaurus)

A cell located in the collecting tube of the nephron..

(Light Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

LIF, secreted by ureteric bud cells, converts kidney mesenchyme to epithelia, which then forms nephrons.

(Leukemia Inhibitory Factor, NCI Thesaurus)

A nephron with its corpuscle in the cortex and Loop of Henle in the renal medulla close to its junction with the renal cortex.

(Cortical Nephron, NCI Thesaurus)

The U-shaped portion of the nephron between the proximal and distal convoluted tubules with descending, ascending, and thick ascending limbs which sets up a concentration gradient in the medulla.

(Henle's Loop, NCI Thesaurus)

The final section of a renal tubule in the nephron between the distal convoluted tubule and the ureter comprising of principal and intercalated cells.

(Collecting Tube, NCI Thesaurus)