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Fetal intestinal microvilli in human amniotic fluid
Author(s) -
Potier Michel,
Cousineau Jocelyne,
Michaud Lorraine,
Zolinger Max,
Melançon Serge B.,
Dallaire Louis
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.1970060606
Subject(s) - amniotic fluid , trehalase , alkaline phosphatase , sucrase , endoplasmic reticulum , maltase , golgi apparatus , biochemistry , biology , brush border , acid phosphatase , disaccharidase , enzyme , differential centrifugation , microvillus , fetus , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , membrane , vesicle , pregnancy , genetics
The intestinal microvilli of fetal origin in human amniotic fluid were purified by Ca 2+ precipitation of contaminating organelles followed by differential centrifugation of microvillar membranes. In the purified preparation, the specific activity of the microvillar marker‐enzymes maltase and sucrase increased about 77‐fold over that in cell‐free amniotic fluid. Significant contamination of the purified preparation by endoplasmic reticulum (microsomes) and lysosomes was ruled out on the basis of a low content of the marker enzymes glucose‐6‐phosphatase (microsomes) and acid phosphatase (lysosomes). Amniotic fluid microvilli contain typical enzymes of the fetal intestine including maltase, sucrase, trehalase, alkaline phosphatase and γ‐glutamyltransferase, and their morphology by electron microscopy resembles that of vesiculated intestinal microvilli. Prenatal detection of genetic diseases due to a deficiency of a protein expressed in these membranes or associated to abnormal microvilli seems feasible.