The nature and biology of basement membranes

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Abstract

<p class="first" id="P2">Basement membranes are delicate, nanoscale and pliable sheets of extracellular matrices that often act as linings or partitions in organisms. Previously considered as passive scaffolds segregating polarized cells, such as epithelial or endothelial cells, from the underlying mesenchyme, basement membranes have now reached the center stage of biology. They play a multitude of roles from blood filtration to muscle homeostasis, from storing growth factors and cytokines to controlling angiogenesis and tumor growth, from maintaining skin integrity and neuromuscular structure to affecting adipogenesis and fibrosis. Here, we will address developmental, structural and biochemical aspects of basement membranes and discuss some of the pathogenetic mechanisms causing diseases linked to abnormal basement membranes. </p>

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Mammalian collagen IV.

Vadim Pedchenko, Jamshid Khoshnoodi, Jo Hudson (2008)

Four decades have passed since the first discovery of collagen IV by Kefalides in 1966. Since then collagen IV has been investigated extensively by a large number of research laboratories around the world. Advances in molecular genetics have resulted in identification of six evolutionary related mammalian genes encoding six different polypeptide chains of collagen IV. The genes are differentially expressed during the embryonic development, providing different tissues with specific collagen IV networks each having unique biochemical properties. Newly translated alpha-chains interact and assemble in the endoplasmic reticulum in a chain-specific fashion and form unique heterotrimers. Unlike most collagens, type IV collagen is an exclusive member of the basement membranes and through a complex inter- and intramolecular interactions form supramolecular networks that influence cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation. Collagen IV is directly involved in a number of genetic and acquired disease such as Alport's and Goodpasture's syndromes. Recent discoveries have also highlighted a new and direct role for collagen IV in the development of rare genetic diseases such as cerebral hemorrhage and porencephaly in infants and hemorrhagic stroke in adults. Years of intensive investigations have resulted in a vast body of information about the structure, function, and biology of collagen IV. In this review article, we will summarize essential findings on the structural and functional relationships of different collagen IV chains and their roles in health and disease. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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Revisiting the matricellular concept

Joanne Murphy-Ullrich, E. Helene Sage (2014)

The concept of a matricellular protein was first proposed by Paul Bornstein in the mid-1990s to account for the non-lethal phenotypes of mice with inactivated genes encoding thrombospondin-1, tenascin-C, or SPARC. It was also recognized that these extracellular matrix proteins were primarily counter or de-adhesive. This review reappraises the matricellular concept after nearly two decades of continuous investigation. The expanded matricellular family as well as the diverse and often unexpected functions, cellular location, and interacting partners/receptors of matricellular proteins are considered. Development of therapeutic strategies that target matricellular proteins are discussed in the context of pathology and regenerative medicine.

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Basement membrane proteoglycans: from cellar to ceiling.

Renato Iozzo (2005)

The biology of basement membrane proteoglycans extends far beyond the original notion of anionic filters. These complex molecules have dual roles as structural constituents of basement membranes and functional regulators of several growth-factor signalling pathways. As such, they are involved in angiogenesis and, consequently, in tumour progression and their partial or total absence causes several congenital defects that affect the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and nervous systems. New findings indicate a potential functional coupling between the intricate make-up of basement membrane proteoglycans and their ability to control important biological processes.