Intestinal cells surprisingly active in pursuit of nutrition and defense
Monday, June 29, 2009 - 09:28
in Biology & Nature
Every cell lining the small intestine bristles with thousands of tightly packed microvilli that project into the gut lumen, forming a brush border that absorbs nutrients and protects the body from intestinal bacteria. In the June 29, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Matthew McConnell, Matthew Tyska, and colleagues now find that microvilli extend their functional reach even further using a molecular motor to send vesicles packed with gut enzymes out into the lumen to get a head start on breaking down their substrates.
Read the whole article on Physorg
More from Physorg
Related
- Intestinal cells surprisingly active in pursuit of nutrition and defenseMon, 29 Jun 2009, 10:23:53 EDT
- Intestinal bacteria associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseFri, 29 May 2009, 9:44:52 EDT
- When intestinal bacteria go surfingThu, 19 Mar 2009, 12:03:59 EDT
- DNA of good bacteria drives intestinal response to infectionThu, 2 Oct 2008, 16:56:39 EDT
- The making of an intestinal stem cellThu, 5 Mar 2009, 12:50:26 EST