The preparation of brush borders from the epithelial cells of the guineapig small intestine by zonal centrifugation

Synopsis Preparations of epithelial cells from the small intestine of the guineapig have been used as starting material for the purification of intestinal brush borders. A simple, reproducible method is described which involves one centrifugation in a zonal rotor. The yield of pure brush borders was high and contamination by other subcellular structures very low. Comparison is made with other methods of preparation. It is estimated that brush borders represent 10 to 11% of the protein of the epithelial cell.