terminal web

The terminal web is a filamentous structure found at the apical surface of epithelial cells that possess microvilli.

The presence of myosin II and tropomyosin helps to explain the contractile ability of the terminal web.

It should not be confused with the Terminal web, which is an actinous web underlying microvilli on specialized epithelial cells.

The actin filaments anchor to the terminal web and the top of the cell membrane and are arranged in grade of height.

It is composed primarily of actin filaments stabilized by spectrin, which also anchors the terminal web to the apical cell membrane.

Ankycorbin has been associated with the cortical actin cytoskeleton structures in terminal web, cell-cell adhesion sites as well as stress fibres.

When contracted, the terminal web causes a decrease in diameter of the apex of the cell, causing the microvilli, which are anchored into the terminal web through their stiff actin fibers, to spread apart.

The plus ends of the actin filaments are located at the tip of the microvillus and are capped, possibly by capZ proteins, while the minus ends are anchored in the terminal web composed of a complicated set of proteins including spectrin and myosin II.