PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Aurélien Bidaud-Meynard
AU  - Flora Demouchy
AU  - Ophélie Nicolle
AU  - Anne Pacquelet
AU  - Grégoire Michaux
TI  - High resolution dynamic mapping of the <em>C. elegans</em> intestinal brush border
AID  - 10.1101/2021.06.14.448317
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.06.14.448317
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/14/2021.06.14.448317.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/14/2021.06.14.448317.full
AB  - The intestinal brush border is made of an array of microvilli that increases the membrane surface area for nutrient processing, absorption, and host defence. Studies on mammalian cultured epithelial cells uncovered some of the molecular players, structural components and physical constrains required to establish this apical specialized membrane. However, the building and maintenance of a brush border in vivo has not been investigated in detail yet. Here, we combined super-resolution imaging, transmission electron microscopy and genome editing in the developing nematode C. elegans to build a high-resolution and dynamic localization map of known and new markers of the brush border. Notably, we show that microvilli components are dynamically enriched at the apical membrane during microvilli outgrowth and maturation but become highly stable when microvilli are built. This new mapping tool will be instrumental to understand the molecular processes of microvilli growth and maintenance in vivo as well as the effect of genetic perturbations, notably in the context of disorders affecting the brush border integrity.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.