Nephron functional units
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Definition
Bowman's capsule (filtration), PCT (reabsorption of glucose/AA/Na⁺), loop of Henle (countercurrent multiplier), DCT (Na⁺/Ca^2⁺ regulation), collecting duct (ADH-mediated water reabsorption).
Nephron functional units in plain English
Your kidneys are filters that clean your blood, and the nephron is the tiny repeating unit that does the actual cleaning — you have about a million of them, and each works like a mini assembly line. First, Bowman's capsule shoves a bunch of fluid out of the blood (like dumping your whole bag out to sort it). Then the tube reclaims the good stuff you shouldn't lose: the PCT grabs back sugar, amino acids (protein building blocks), and salt; the loop of Henle sets up a salty zone deep in the kidney that lets you pull water back later; the DCT fine-tunes sodium and calcium; and the collecting duct decides how much water to keep based on a hormone called ADH (high ADH = save water, so your pee is more concentrated). Whatever's left over after all that reclaiming is urine.
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