小鼠Col18a1以三种可变变体的形式以组织特异性方式表达，并定位于基底膜区域。

Muragaki Y, Timmons S, Griffith C M, Oh S P, Fadel B, Quertermous T, Olsen B R

Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Sep 12;92(19):8763-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.19.8763.

We have isolated overlapping cDNAs encoding the N-terminal non-triple-helical region of mouse alpha 1(XVIII) collagen and shown that three different variants of alpha 1(XVIII) collagen exist. Each of the three variants shows characteristic tissue-specific expression patterns. Immunohistochemical studies show positive staining for alpha 1(XVIII) collagen along the basement membrane zones of vessels in the intestinal villi, the choroid plexus, skin, liver, and kidney. Thus, we conclude that alpha 1(XVIII) collagen may interact (directly or indirectly) with components in basement membrane zones or on the basal surface of endothelial/epithelial cells.

我们分离出了编码小鼠α1（XVIII）胶原蛋白N端非三螺旋区域的重叠cDNA，并证明存在三种不同的α1（XVIII）胶原蛋白变体。这三种变体中的每一种都显示出特征性的组织特异性表达模式。免疫组织化学研究表明，α1（XVIII）胶原蛋白在肠绒毛、脉络丛、皮肤、肝脏和肾脏的血管基底膜区域呈阳性染色。因此，我们得出结论，α1（XVIII）胶原蛋白可能与基底膜区域或内皮/上皮细胞基底表面的成分（直接或间接）相互作用。