| Abstract
| - Polygonal meshworks were revealed in the aggregates reconstituted from isolated collagen IV as well as in the lamina densa of mouse pancreas by the quick-freezing and deep-etching technique. Collagen IV solubilized with acetic acid from the bovine lens capsules and that isolated from the pepsinsolubilized fraction of human placenta reconstituted polygonal meshworks, which were dimensionally similar to the meshwork seen in the lamina densa of mouse pancreas. The average lengths between branching points in the lamina densa, and in the meshworks of collagen IV derived from the bovine lens capsules and from the human placenta were 20.1 ± 7.7 nm (mode = 18 nm), 21.6 ± 11.3 nm (mode = 14 nm), and 21.6 ± 9.0 nm (mode = 18 nm), respectively. These observations suggest that collagen IV can, in the absence of other macromolecules including laminins, comprise a skeletal meshwork similar in dimensions to that of the lamina densa
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