Microfibril

The microfibril is a very fine fibril, or fiber-like strand, consisting of glycoproteins. It is usually, but not always, used as a general term in describing the structure of protein fibre, examples are hair and sperm tail. Its most frequently observed structural pattern is 9+2 pattern in which two central protofibrils are surrounded by nine others. Cellulose inside plants is one of the examples of non-protein compounds that are using this term with the same purpose.

In Marfan syndrome, there is a deficiency in fibrillin, which is a glycoprotein component of microfibrils. It is also oriented by the orientation of plasma membrane. Mikrofibrille