The elaborate cytoskeletal matrix underlying the intestinal epithelial cell brush border (BB) is the hallmark of a mature enterocyte. As such, alterations in this structure are potentially useful as markers aiding in the recognition of subtle defects in cell maturation, such as those accompanying dysplasia and neoplasia. For exploration of this hypothesis, the BB components of human ileal and colonic enterocytes have been compared structurally and biochemically with the well-characterized avian BB, and alterations in the BB cytoskeleton in various states of dysplasia and neoplasia have been identified. Ultrastructural analysis of isolated human ileal BBs indicate that the human BB is structurally homologous to BBs isolated from chicken and other mammalian sources. Like other mammalian BBs (eg, from rat) the terminal web cytoskeleton of the human BB is less extensive than that in the avian BB. Immunochemical analysis of isolated human BBs indicates that the major proteins of the avian microvillar actin bundle, villin, fimbrin, and the 110-kd subunit of the 110K-calmodulin complex, are all present in the human BB. The terminal web protein myosin is also present. Unlike the terminal web of the avian BB, which contains a BB-specific isoform of spectrin, TW 260/240, the human BB contains the more widely distributed spectrin isoform, fodrin. In addition, the human BB contains multiple proteins immunoreactive with antibodies to protein 4.1, a spectrin/actin binding protein that is absent from the avian BB. Immunolocalization studies examining the distribution of the BB-specific microvillar protein, villin, in human colonic mucosa indicate that the localization of this protein is disrupted in certain dysplastic and neoplastic states. Thus, both the expression and/or distribution of BB-specific proteins such as villin may be useful markers for defects in the differentiation state of the enterocyte.