Question

Why intestinal mucosa has microvilli?

Answer 1

In the small intestine, these cells contain microvilli, which are tiny hair-like projections that increase nutrient absorption. These projections increase the surface area of the small intestine allowing more area for nutrients to be absorbed. Micro-villi is microscopic and can only be seen with a very powerful microscope, but they give the cell surface a fuzzy appearance because there are so many of them. This fuzzy appearance leads some anatomists to refer to microvilli as a brush border because the structure looks like the bristles of a paintbrush. So, we see that the brush border can be defined as the microvilli-covered surface of the simple columnar epithelium cells of the small intestine.