Structural analysis suggests that renin is released by compound exocytosis

The mode of renin release from renal juxtaglomerular cells into circulation is still unsolved in several aspects. Here we studied the intracellular organization of renin-storage vesicles and their changes during controlled stimulation of renin release. This was accomplished using isolated perfused mouse kidneys with 3-dimensional electron microscopic analyses of renin-producing cells. Renin was found to be stored in a network of single granules and cavern-like structures, and dependent on the synthesis of glycosylated prorenin. Acute stimulation of renin release led to increased exocytosis in combination with intracellular fusion of vesicles to larger caverns and their subsequent emptying. Renin release from the kidneys of SCID-beige mice, which contain few but gigantic renin-storage vesicles, was no different from that of kidneys from wild-type mice. Thus, our findings suggest that renin is released by mechanisms similar to compound exocytosis.