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Stereocilia are cylindrical and non-motile. They are much longer and thicker than 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 [1] and lack an axoneme. This distinguishes them from cilia.
Resembling hair-like projections, the stereocilia are arranged in bundles of 30–300. [3] Within the bundles the stereocilia are often lined up in several rows of increasing height, similar to a staircase. At the core of these hair-like stereocilia are rigid cross-linked actin filaments, which can renew every
Microvilli (sg.: microvillus) are microscopic cellular membrane protrusions that increase the surface area for diffusion and minimize any increase in volume, [1] and are involved in a wide variety of functions, including absorption, secretion, cellular adhesion, and mechanotransduction.
Pseudostratified columnar epithelia with stereocilia are located in the epididymis. Stereocilia of the epididymis are not cilia because their cytoskeleton is composed of actin filaments, not microtubules. [3] They are structurally and molecularly more similar to microvilli than to true cilia. [dubious – discuss]
Microvilli increase the surface area of a tissue, such as from their abundance on tissue protrusions such as intestinal villi. There is increasing evidence that membrane protrusions may act as platforms for the budding of extracellular vesicles .
The hair bundle is composed of stiff microvilli called stereocilia and is involved with mechanoreception of sound waves. Stereocilia cells generate an electrical response to the vibrations of sound waves, crucial for normal hearing. This gene is part of a tandem duplication on chromosome 15; the second copy is a pseudogene.
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The hair cells have a hair bundle at the apical surface of the cell. The hair bundle consists of an array of actin-based stereocilia. Each stereocilium inserts as a rootlet into a dense filamentous actin mesh known as the cuticular plate. Disruption of these bundles results in hearing impairments and balance defects.