Terminology Service for NFDI4Health
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nephron

Go to external page http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/UBERON_0001285

The basic functional unit of the kidney. its chief function is to regulate the concentration of water and soluble substances like sodium salts by filtering the blood, reabsorbing what is needed and excreting the rest as urine. A nephron eliminates wastes from the body, regulates blood volume and blood pressure, controls levels of electrolytes and metabolites, and regulates blood pH. Its functions are vital to life and are regulated by the endocrine system by hormones such as antidiuretic hormone, aldosterone, and parathyroid hormone.[WP] [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephron http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9268568 ]

Term info

Label

nephron

database cross reference
Subsets

uberon_slim, pheno_slim, vertebrate_core

depicted by

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Gray1128.png

editor note

kidney terms require review for cross-vertebrate compatibility and developmental relationships.

external definition

Functional unit of the kidney that filters waste.[TAO]

has narrow synonym

mature nephron

has related synonym

nephroneum, tubulus renalis

id

UBERON:0001285

taxon notes

In the avian kidney, three types of nephron are identified: mammalian-type nephrons with long and short loops of Henle, and reptilian type nephrons (Gambaryan, 1992)