nephrocyte [FBbt_00047125]

nephrocyte

ID: FBbt_00047125

Cell that regulates hemolymph composition by filtration and filtrate endocytosis. Extensive infoldings of the plasma membrane generate a network of labyrinthine channels, known as lacunae, flanked by nephrocyte foot processes. The entrances to these channels take the form of narrow slits approximately 30 nm in width, spanned by single or double filaments that form a specialized filter known as the nephrocyte diaphragm. Each nephrocyte is enveloped in a negatively charged basement membrane so that hemolymph is filtered across basement membrane and the nephrocyte diaphragm and is endocytosed from the lacunae. Nephrocytes are derived from the embryonic mesoderm and many persist through metamorphosis into adult life.