Differences in the solubility and susceptibility to proteolytic degradation of basement-membrane components in adult and embryonic mouse tissues

Abstract

We have studied susceptibility of basement membranes in a variety of tissues to solubility in guanidine hydrochloride and to proteolytic degradation by trypsin and thermolysin. Unfixed sections from embryonic and adult mouse tissues and the EHS tumor were subjected to solvent buffers or digested with enzymes. The retention or disappearance of the basement-membrane components nidogen, laminin, collagen IV, and heparan sulfate proteoglycan was subsequently assayed by immunofluorescence. Our data showed that in all tissues nidogen was the most readily solubilized component and the most susceptible to proteolytic degradation. With few exceptions, nidogen in embryonic tissues was more susceptible to degradation than that in adult tissues, and this correlated well with the susceptibility of the other basement-membrane components to be degraded. We conclude that basement membranes differ quite markedly in their solubility and their susceptibility to proteolytic degradation and that these properties reflect differences in their molecular structure.