Meanings
nounflectopodium (plural flectopodia)
plural flectopodia
- biologyFlexible cytoplasmic protrusions that modify the normal contractile activity of pericytes.
Flectopodia are 7–30 µm long, present in 9% of GFP-actin+-cells on vessels (n = 266), with the ability to elongate for up to 20 µm or more, at a rate of 14–99 µm/hour, and to form a bent vessel segment in 30 minutes.
2014 July 17, Elisabetta M. Caspani, Philip H. Crossley, Carolina Redondo-Garcia, Salvador Martinez, “Glioblastoma: A Pathogenic Crosstalk between Tumor Cells and Pericytes”, in PLOS One
Origin
From Latin flectō (“bend”) + -podium (“leg-like structure”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
flectopodium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flectopodium
MLA
“flectopodium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flectopodium. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flectopodium,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flectopodium.
Source: flectopodium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.