Basement membranes (BMs) are thin, dense sheets of specialized, self-assembled extracellular matrix that surround most animal tissues (Figure 1, top). The emergence of BMs coincided with the origin of multicellularity in animals, suggesting that they were essential for the formation of tissues. Their sheet-like structure derives from two independent polymeric networks - one of laminin and one o...

The Zagros orogeny in Iran is associated with two successive geodynamic events during the Tertiary period, a Paleogene NE-directed regional crustal extension followed by a Miocene NW-directed regional crustal extension and a magmatic flare-up. The current study was undertaken to reanalyze previous structural work developed on the extensional Chapedony metamorphic core complex in Central Iran ex...

We have isolated a unique, basement membrane proteoglycan from the Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) sarcoma. This proteoglycan, estimated to be 0.75 X 10(6) daltons, was found to contain about equal amounts of protein and covalently linked heparan sulfate. Antibody prepared against this proteoglycan reacts with the basement membrane matrix in the tumor and with the basement membranes in skin, kidney...

Basement membrane has attracted less attention than the other components of connective tissue. But, like the other extracellular fibres and matrix materials, it can profoundly influence both the structure and function of advanced life forms. Usually taking the shape of thin, structureless cementing material between epithelial and connective tissue, basement membranes are widely distributed thro...