This electron micrograph shows a region of the brush border of the cat intestine. Tufted and branched polysaccharide filaments, each a few nanometers thick, extend from the microvilli to make up the glycocalyx, or surface coat, on the surface of plasma membrane of these epithelial cells. This image, courtesy of Susumu Ito is Figure 16 from Chapter 1 (The Cell Surface) of 'The Cell, 2nd Ed.' by Don W. Fawcett M.D. A PDF copy of the accompanying chapter is available on the ASCB's BioEDUCATE website.