Quick Facts
Simple cuboidal epithelium is a single layer of epithelium with cuboidal cells on its superficial surface; often found in kidney tubules and secretory ducts of exocrine glands (Ross and Pawlina, 2006).
Related parts of the anatomy
Structure and/or Key Feature(s)
Cuboidal epithelial cells line the distal convoluted tubule. Their apical surfaces exhibit some microvilli; however, they are not long enough nor as numerous as those forming a brush border in the proximal convoluted tubule.
Function
The epithelial cells of the distal convoluted tubule:
—reabsorbs Na+ and so conserves Na+ and secretes of K+ into the glomerular filtrate;
—reabsorbs bicarbonate ions and so secretion of H+ ions which acidifies the urine;
—reabsorbs chloride (Cl−) ions;
—secretes ammonium ions (Ross and Pawlina, 2006).
References
Ross, M. H. and Pawlina, W. (2006) Histology: A text and atlas. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
