We have previously shown that Microtubule Organizing Centers (MTOCs) attach to the apical network of Intermediate Filaments (IFs) in epithelial cells in culture and in epithelia in vivo. Because that attachment is important for the architecture of microtubules in epithelia, we analyzed if chemical anoxia in LLC-PK1 and CACO-2 cells or unilateral ischemia / reperfusion in rat kidney (performed under fluorane anaesthesia) had an effect on the binding and distribution of MTOCs. In culture, we found that chemical anoxia induces MTOC detachment from IF by morphological and biochemical criteria. In reperfused rat proximal tubules non-centrosomal MTOCs were fully detached from the cytoskeleton and scattered throughout the cytoplasm at 3 days after reperfusion, when brush borders were mostly reassembled. At that time, MTs were also fully reassembled but, as expected, lacked their normal apico-basal orientation. Two apical membrane markers expressed in S2 and S3 segments were depolarized at the same stage. At 8 days after reperfusion membrane polarity, MTOCs and MTs were back to normal. Na⁺-K⁺ATPase was also found redistributed but not to the apical domain, but rather to an intracellular compartment, as described by others. The prolonged depolarization of the apical membrane may have implications in the pathophysiology of ARF.