The cross-ply arrangement of collagen fibres in the submucosa of the mammalian small intestine.
Whole-mount preparations of the submucosa were made from the small intestine of rats, guinea-pigs, rabbits and sheep. In the distended intestine the collagen fibres ran straight and approximately parallel to the serosal surface. They formed a characteristic lattice, with two arrays of fibres running diagonally in a clockwise and an anticlockwise direction, and making an angle of 50 degrees-55 degrees with the longitudinal axis of the intestine. This collagen-fibre lattice was flexible and changed with the movements of the intestinal wall; when the radial distension predominated, the angle between collagen fibres of the submucosa and longitudinal axis of the intestine increased to 60 degrees-65 degrees, and when the longitudinal distension predominated the angle decreased to about 30 degrees.
D000818:Animals; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D012756:Sheep; D013045:Species Specificity
D003094:Collagen