Brush border

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1 Glomerulus, 2 proximal tubule, 3 distal tubule. Note how the border around the "2"s are thicker than the borders around the "3".

A brush border (or striated border) is the name for the microvilli-covered surface of pseudostratified columnar epithelium found in multiple locations of the body. While the individual cilia can be distinguished using electron microscopes,^[1] with a light microscope they can usually only be seen collectively, as a fuzzy fringe at the surface of the epithelium.

They are found in two main locations:

• The small intestine tract: This is where absorption takes place.^[2][3][4]

• The kidney: Here the brush border is useful in distinguishing the proximal tubule (which possesses the brush border) from the distal tubule (which does not).^[5][6][7]

[edit] References

1. ^ Histology at BU 21901loa
2. ^ Histology at BU 12202loa
3. ^ Histology at BU 11703loa
4. ^ http://www.pathguy.com/histo/085.htm
5. ^ Histology at OU 35_19 - Kidney
6. ^ Histology at KUMC urinary-renal13 "Tubules"
7. ^ Histology at USC epi/c_6

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