Samples of human plantar and palmar skin were excised and incubated in 20 mM EDTA after which the epidermis was gently separated from the dermis with the plane of separation occurring in the lamina lucida. Scanning electron microscopic examination of the dermal component revealed the classically described series of regularly spaced grooves and papillae that characterize the epidermal-dermal jun...

Reconstituted basement membranes and extracellular matrices have been demonstrated to affect, positively and dramatically, the production of milk proteins in cultured mammary epithelial cells. Here we show that both the expression and the deposition of extracellular matrix components themselves are regulated by substratum. The steady-state levels of the laminin, type IV collagen, and fibronecti...

A coarctation hypertensive rat model was used to examine the effects of elevated blood pressure on basement membrane component synthesis by cardiac myocytes and aorta using immunohistochemistry and Northern blot analysis. Carotid arterial pressure increased immediately on coarctation, and left ventricular hypertrophy was maximal within 5 days. In immunohistochemical studies, fibronectin and lam...

Reconstituted Basement Membranes In article number 2101972 by Juan Peng, Yong Chen, and co-workers, an artificial basement membrane is obtained protein self-assembling in the pore areas of a monolayer crosslinked nanofibers. Alveolar epithelium achieved replating dissociated single cells alveolar organoids.

Laminins are components of all basement membranes and have well demonstrated roles in diverse developmental processes, from the peri-implantation period onwards. Laminin 1 (alpha1beta1gamma1) is a major laminin found at early stages of embryogenesis in both embryonic and extraembryonic basement membranes. The laminin gamma1 chain has been shown by targeted mutation to be required for endodermal...

Integrins alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta4 are abundant receptors on keratinocytes for laminin-5, a major component of the basement membrane between the epidermis and the dermis in skin. These integrins are recruited to distinct adhesion structures within keratinocytes; alpha6beta4 is present in hemidesmosomes, while alpha3beta1 is recruited into focal contacts in cultured cells. To determine whethe...

Two monoclonal antibodies raised against laminin isolated from a mouse parietal yolk sac cell line were used for immunohistochemical studies of basement membranes of the mouse embryo and various fetal and adult tissues. No immunoreactivity with either of the two monoclonal antibodies could be detected in the preimplantation-stage embryos, although it has been shown that these embryos contain ex...

A heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) synthesized by murine parietal yolk sac (PYS-2) cells has been characterized and purified from culture supernatants. A monospecific polyclonal antiserum was raised against it which showed activity against the HSPG core protein and basement membrane specificity in immunohistochemical studies on frozen tissue sections from many rat organs. However, there was ...

Purpose Basement membrane degradation and macrophage aggregation at the optic fissure margins are crucial to optic fissure closure during normal murine eye development. Basement membrane degradation is also an essential step in cancer development, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role. In this study, we investigated MMP alteration at the degrading basement membrane of opti...

The vascular basement membrane-a thin, elastic layer of extracellular matrix separating and encasing vascular cells-provides biological and mechanical cues to endothelial cells, pericytes, and migrating leukocytes. In contrast, experimental scaffolds typically used to replicate basement membranes are stiff and bio-inert. Here, we present thin, porated polyethylene glycol hydrogels to replicate ...