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New model describes role of adhesion molecules in brush border assembly
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Cadherin molecules were observed interacting with two proteins inside intestinal microvilli and may represent “the driving force for growing and tightly packing the brush border,” Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers reported.
Using scanning electron microscopy, Matthew J. Tyska, PhD, associate professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, and postdoctoral fellow Scott W. Crawley, PhD, followed the evolution of the brush border using an epithelial cell culture model.
As microvilli emerged, they joined at the tips, forming “tepee-like” clusters, according to a university medical center press release.
Matthew J. Tyska
“Higher-magnification imaging unexpectedly revealed that clustering microvilli were physically connected by small, thread-like links,” the researchers wrote. “Such intermicrovillar links have not been described before but were observed at both early and late time points.”
Researchers conducted a series of studies, demonstrating that two proteins in the cadherin family play a role in “sticking microvilli together.” Using a cell culture model, they showed that reduction of protocadherin-24 destroyed the brush border, leaving microvilli that were not tightly packed and with varying lengths.
“It’s always been a question how microvilli achieve this remarkably uniform length,” Tyska said. “Now it looks like the solution is simple — they get tied together at the tips, and one can’t get past another. It’s really straightforward.”
Tyska believes that the discoveries “provide a framework for thinking about how to control intestinal surface morphology — and how to repair it.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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