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CHAPTER 2 - EPITHELIUM
Histology Guide
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MICROGRAPH

NAME
EM 093 Microvilli
TISSUE
Small Intestine
Intestinal Absorptive Cell
(Enterocyte)
IMAGE SIZE
4,506 x 4,870 pixels
84 MB
FILE SIZES
22,261 KB (grayscale)
22,585 KB (color)
MAGNIFICATION
75,000x
PIXEL SIZE
0.5681 nm
SOURCE
Stanley L. Erlandsen
Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development
School of Medicine
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

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EM 093 Microvilli

Microvilli

Microvilli are especially abundant on cells involved in nutrient absorption. They increase the cell surface area (upto 600-fold) and efficiency of absorption.

Microvilli are about 100 nm in diameter and their length varies from 0.5 to 1.0 µm in length.

  • Plasma Membrane (dark green) - attached to the structural core along its length
    • Glycocalyx - glycoproteins that bind to the extracellular surface of microvilli (looks like a "fuzzy" coating)
  • (blue) - bundles of actin filaments form the core each microvilli
    • - extends into the apical cytoplasm and interacts with the terminal web
  • Cytoplasm (green)

The apical surface of an epithelial cell covered with thousands of microvilli is called a brush border.

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