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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.
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 ...
Microvilli increase the surface area of a tissue, such as from their abundance on tissue protrusions such as intestinal villi. There is increasing evidence that membrane protrusions may act as platforms for the budding of extracellular vesicles .
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.
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 on the apical surface increase its surface area. This facilitates transport of numerous small molecules into the enterocyte from the intestinal lumen. These include broken down proteins, fats, and sugars, as well as water, electrolytes, vitamins, and bile salts.
The terminal web is a filamentous structure found at the apical surface of epithelial cells that possess microvilli.It is composed primarily of actin filaments stabilized by spectrin, which also anchors the terminal web to the apical cell membrane.
The DCT is lined with simple cuboidal cells, the distal convoluted tubule cells, that are shorter than those of the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT). The lumen appears larger in the PCT than the DCT lumen because the PCT has a brush border (microvilli).