The effect of the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose on retinal capillary basement membrane thickening was examined in the spontaneously diabetic BB/W-rat. Four months of diabetes resulted in significant thickening of the basement membranes of both the superficial and deep capillary nets of the retina. This characteristic change of the retinal microvasculature in diabetes was completely preve...

A polyol-pathway related perturbation of myo-inositol metabolism has been invoked in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, including retinal microvasculopathy. Previous studies have demonstrated a beneficiary effect of aldose reductase inhibition on basement membrane thickening of retinal microvessels in diabetic animals. In the present study we demonstrate a significant but partial effec...

In the two-dimensional discrete element modeling of displacement of sedimentary layers caused by faulting within the basement, we attempted to move a rigid basement as if it were an elastic basement by controlling its motion through application of dislocation solutions. An advantage of our modeling procedure is that we can discuss displacement fields of sedimentary layers in connection with fau...

Age-related increases in basement membrane thickness have been noted in many tissues, including the testis. The current investigation examined the morphology of the basement membrane in the aged Brown Norway rat and sought to determine whether the accumulation of basement membrane was the result of an increase in the expression of the basement membrane genes. The aged testis was characterized b...

Arterial basement-membrane-like material was isolated from rabbit aortic myomedial cell cultures by sonication and differential centrifugation. Isolated basement-membrane-like material was shown to be free of both cellular and matrix contaminants, on the basis of determinations of DNA, RNA, cholesterol, phosphorus and (Na+ + K+)-activated ATPase, combined with electron microscopy. Amino acid an...

Although the ability of mononuclear phagocytes to interact with basement membranes and other extracellular matrices is well documented, the mechanisms involved and their possible modes of regulation are poorly understood (1) . Monocytes must penetrate the basement membranes of vascular endothelia during their emigration from blood to tissue (1) and they can encounter basement membranes again af...

Glomeruli from streptozotocin-diabetic and age-matched nondiabetic rats were quantitatively isolated by a differential sieving technique. The insoluble glomerular basement membranes were purified following sonic disruption in the presence of proteolytic inhibitors. The yield of glomeruli and of glomerular basement membrane relative to the amount of renal cortex and the body weight of the animal...

To study the physical properties of renal tubular basement membranes directly, the epithelial layer of single isolated perfused rabbit proximal convoluted, proximal straight, and cortical collecting tubules was removed with sodium desoxycholate. Tubular segments were perfused using micropipets. The distal end of each segment was occluded in order to simplify the measurement of transmembrane wat...

The basement membrane components in the primary and metastatic lesions of 29 cases of early gastric cancer were histologically and immunohistochemically examined. On silver-impregnated specimens, reticular fibers were much more abundant in the basement membrane regions and stromal tissues in the metastatic lesions than in the primary lesions. Immunohistochemically, the basement membrane compone...

Native and de novo synthesized heparan sulfate-proteoglycan (HS-PG) of basement membranes from isolated whole glomeruli were characterized. Sepharose CL-6B chromatograms of [35S]sulfate-labeled de novo synthesized HS-PG extracted from whole glomeruli indicated identical molecular weight characteristics to that isolated from purified basement membranes (Mr of intact HS-PG approximately equal to ...