The corneas of 12 eye donors with maturity-onset diabetes were obtained, and the corneal epithelial basement membranes were studied by transmission electron microscopy. Similar tissue was obtained from 12 nondiabetic eye donors who were matched for age (within 2 years) and race. The mean thickness of the corneal epithelial basement membrane in nondiabetic patients was 0.33 micrometer (+/- 0.11 ...

Light and electron microscope immunohistochemical methods were used to study the distribution of several proteins in rat skeletal muscle. The aims were to identify components of muscle fiber basement membrane and to compare the small fraction (0.1%) of the basement membrane that extends through the synaptic cleft at the neuromuscular junction with the remaining, extrasynaptic portion. Synaptic ...

The skeletal muscle basement membrane fulfils several crucial functions during development and in the mature myotome and defects in its composition underlie certain forms of muscular dystrophy. A major component of this extracellular structure is the laminin polymer, which assembles into a resilient meshwork that protects the sarcolemma during contraction. Here we describe a zebrafish mutant, s...

Map-dot-fingerprint basement-membrane abnormalities of the cornea are common in the general population, affecting as many as 76% of persons over age 50 and 42% of persons of all ages. The prevalence of this condition in the general population is not significantly different from that found in families of patients with recurrent corneal erosions and map-dot-fingerprint corneal changes. Despite th...

The effects of glucose extremes on vascular physiology and endothelial cell function have been examined across a range of time scales. Not unexpectedly, chronic glucose exposure induces long term tissue effects. Yet short term exposure can also impose lasting consequences. The persistence of vascular pathology after euglycemic restoration further suggests a glucose exposure memory. Slow turnove...

Laminin is a large basement membrane glycoprotein localized in the trophoblast, glomerular basement membrane and in the mesangial matrix of human glomeruli. It promotes the attachment of epithelial cells to basement membrane collagen. We have found that 14 sera from 52 patients with severe preeclampsia or eclampsia contain IgG and IgM antibodies which react with placental and kidney basement me...

Collagen IV is a major component of basement membranes, and mutations in COL4A1, which encodes collagen IV alpha chain 1, cause a multisystemic disease encompassing cerebrovascular, eye and kidney defects. However, COL4A1 renal disease remains poorly characterized and its pathomolecular mechanisms are unknown. We show that Col4a1 mutations in mice cause hypotension and renal disease, including ...

Basement membranes are extracellular matrices essential for embryonic development in animals. Peroxidasins are extracellular peroxidases implicated in the unique sulfilimine cross-links between type IV basement membrane collagens. Loss of function in the Caenorhabditis elegans peroxidasin PXN-2 results in fully penetrant embryonic or larval lethality. Using genetic suppressor screening, we find...

Specific antibodies to laminin, type IV collagen, basement-membrane proteoglycan, and fibronectin have been used in immunofluorescence microscopy to study the development of basement membranes of the embryonic kidney. Kidney tubules are known to form from the nephrogenic mesenchyme as a result of an inductive tissue interaction. This involves a change in the composition of the extracellular mat...