What is Enterocyt?

Enterocyte is a type of cell that absorbs water and nutrients from the digestive tract. As an example of what is called a column cell, it is a high and narrow shape, with a "brush" by a boundary made of small protrusions that project into the space inside the intestine. Enterocytes come inside the intestinal glands or crypts in the small intestine and colon. In the small intestine they produce and excrete digestive enzymes that bind to their brushes and help to break down sugars and proteins, which reduces and easier absorbing. Enterocytes in the large intestine absorb water and electrolytes. After they have formed inside the crypt at the bottom of Villi, enterocytes migrate all the way to the tip and ripen as they go. There is cell death on the tip of Villi and enterocytes are discarded into the intestine. The Enterocyte life cycle lasts only a few days and the resulting speed of the lining is faster than any other body tissue. There are no villas in the large intestine, but there are crypts where enterocytes are formed.

Enterocytes are simple column epithelial cells that are shaped as extended boxes. As intestinal absorption cells are located in both large and small intestine. Each enterocyte has an oval core located at the bottom of the cell. In the upper part of the cell, the boundary of the brush, which is made of small protrusions called microvilli, significantly increases the surface area available for absorption of nutrients or water from the intestine.

digestive enzymes known as peptidases and disaccharidases are produced by each enterocyte. These connect to the microvilli on the upper part of the cell, decompose proteins and sugars from the intestine into smaller particles that are easier to absorb. In the large intestine enterocytes absorb water and electrolytes, and although they also have microvilli on their upper surfaces, do not contain digestive enzymes.

The substances pass from the intestine to enterocytes and move out into the liquid that surrounds the cells, knowsmine as an interstitial fluid. Enterocyte has a number of active transport systems that use substances through the cellular membrane and into the cell. Once they reach interstitial fluids, the nutrients are able to switch to a small blood vessels called capillaries that connect to the general blood circulation.