Cell shapes: cuboidal

In this kidney section, tubular structures are composed of cells with a wide range of shapes from squamous to cuboidal.   Cuboidal cells are shaped like a cube with roughly equal height and width.  Nuclei of cuboidal cells are usually spherical.  Cuboidal cells often form tubes or tubules, a number of which are seen in this image.  1000x

Each cuboidal cell has a spherical nucleus, reflecting the box-like shape of the cell.

Note the intermediate shapes of the nuclei in the low cuboidal cells lining these tubules.

Squamous cells with their flattened nuclei and attenuated cytoplasm line a glomerulus and a blood vessel.

The space within a tube is called the lumen