Abstract: The invention provides compositions, methods and systems for the ex vivo co-culture of renal cells, more specifically, for the co-culture of glomerulus-derived vascular endothelial cells and podocyte cells using apparatus that mimics the in vivo cellular architecture of the renal corpuscle. The invention described herein finds a variety of uses, for example, as a model system for the study of renal corpuscle function, including the filtration of the blood supply that occurs at the interface of the glomerulus and Bowman's capsule, normal physiology of those cell types, and as a model system for the study of renal disease, including the study of drug effects on the functioning of these cell types.