Stereocilia
Stereocilia (or stereovilli) are non-motile apical modifications of the cell. They are distinct from cilia and microvilli, but closely related to the latter.
| Stereocilia | |
|---|---|
 Stereocilia of frog inner ear | |
| Identifiers | |
| MeSH | D059547 |
| TH | H1.00.01.1.01013 |
| Anatomical terms of microanatomy | |
In structure, they are much longer and thicker than typical microvilli, form single "finger-like" projections that may be branched, and have more of the characteristics of the cellular membrane proper. Like microvilli, they contain actin filaments and lack an axoneme, distinguishing them from cilia.
They are found in three regions of the body:
- the ductus deferens
- the epididymis (see stereocilia (epididymis) for more details). Some sources consider epididymal stereocilia to be a variant of microvilli,[1] rather than their own distinct type of structure.
- the sensory (hair) cells of the inner ear (see stereocilia (inner ear) for more details)
References
- Krause J. William (July 2005). Krause's Essential Human Histology for Medical Students. Universal-Publishers. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-58112-468-2.
External links
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