Abstract
The free surface coat on foot processes of rat glomerular epithelium stains particularly heavily with ruthenium red and osmium tetroxide, indicating a polyanionic sialoglycoprotein. It is compressible and expansile, containing densely packed filaments 12–25 wide. The coat covers the filtration slit membrane and under some conditions fills the filtration slit between foot processes. Previous studies have indicated that this free surface coat has the characteristics necessary to act as a fine glomerular filtration barrier for serum albumin. Other epithelial and endothelial surface coats with different characteristics contribute to the inner and outer layers of the basement membrane. The central layer of the basement membrane, which acts as a course filter, seems to contain glycoprotein with very little sialic acid. Most fibrils in this layer are 12–25 wide, but some are up to 50 wide. The fibrils are more loosely packed than those in the free surface coat. The surface coats of human glomerular capillary walls stain like those of the rat.
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