Rhombic organization of microvilli domains found in a cell model of the human intestine

Jonas Franz, Jonas Grünebaum, Marcus Schäfer, Dennis Mulac, Florian Rehfeldt, Klaus Langer, Armin Kramer and Christoph Riethmüller

PLOS ONE, 2018, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Symmetry is rarely found on cellular surfaces. An exception is the brush border of microvilli, which are essential for the proper function of transport epithelia. In a healthy intestine, they appear densely packed as a 2D-hexagonal lattice. For in vitro testing of intestinal transport the cell line Caco-2 has been established. As reported by electron microscopy, their microvilli arrange primarily in clusters developing secondly into a 2D-hexagonal lattice. Here, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed under aqueous buffer conditions on Caco-2 cells, which were cultivated on permeable filter membranes for optimum differentiation. For analysis, the exact position of each microvillus was detected by computer vision; subsequent Fourier transformation yielded the type of 2D-lattice. It was confirmed, that Caco-2 cells can build a hexagonal lattice of microvilli and form clusters. Moreover, a second type of arrangement was discovered, namely a rhombic lattice, which appeared at sub-maximal densities of microvilli with (29 ± 4) microvilli / μm2. Altogether, the findings indicate the existence of a yet undescribed pattern in cellular organization.

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0189970

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189970

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