Comparative Analysis of Adult and Fetal Human Small Intestinal Microvilli

The aim was to study the development of human small intestinal microvillus membranes. We compared the protein patterns of human fetal and adult small intestinal microvillus membranes using the high-resolution technique of sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. We also examined the synthesis of brush border membrane proteins from the adult small intestine using small intestinal biopsy organ culture 35S-methionine uptake and subsequent gel electrophoresis. We observed that the fetal and colonic microvillus membranes were similar, but differed in certain respects from adult small intestinal microvillus membranes. The jejunal biopsy organ culture revealed that synthesised brush border membrane proteins could be recognized by gel electrophoresis.