Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Microvilli (sg.: microvillus) are microscopic cellular membrane protrusions that increase the surface area for diffusion and minimize any increase in volume, [1] and are involved in a wide variety of functions, including absorption, secretion, cellular adhesion, and mechanotransduction.
Intestinal villi (sg.: villus) are small, finger-like projections that extend into the lumen of the small intestine.Each villus is approximately 0.5–1.6 mm in length (in humans), and has many microvilli projecting from the enterocytes of its epithelium which collectively form the striated or brush border.
Microvilli are approximately 100 nanometers in diameter and their length varies from approximately 100 to 2,000 nanometers. Because individual microvilli are so small and are tightly packed in the brush border, individual microvilli can only be resolved using electron microscopes ; [ 1 ] with a light microscope they can usually only be seen ...
Drawing showing the relationship between villi and microvilli of the small intestine. The luminal surface of the enterocytes have microvilli (1 micrometer long) while the cell layer itself is folded to form villi (0.5-1.6 millimeters long) and crypts. Both serve to increase the total absorption surface of the intestine.
The individual epithelial cells also have finger-like projections known as microvilli. The functions of the circular folds, the villi, and the microvilli are to increase the amount of surface area available for the absorption of nutrients, and to limit the loss of said nutrients to intestinal fauna.
English: Drawing showing the relationship between villi and microvilli of the small intestine. The luminal surface of the enterocytes have microvilli (1 micrometer long) while the cell layer itself is folded to form villi (0.5-1.6 millimeters long) and crypts. Both serve to increase the total absorption surface of the intestine.
The name refers to the characteristic funnel-shaped "collar" of interconnected microvilli and the presence of a flagellum. Choanoflagellates are found globally in aquatic environments, and they are of particular interest to evolutionary biologists studying the origins of multicellularity in animals.
Microtriches (singular microtrix) are the highly specialized microvilli covering the entire surface of the tegument of cestodes.They are fine hair-like filaments distributed throughout the surface of the body, both unique to and ubiquitous among cestodes, giving the body surface a smooth and silky appearance.