LABORATORY SCIENCE

Distribution of the collagen IV isoforms in human Bruch’s membrane

L Chen^1,*, N Miyamura¹, Y Ninomiya² and J T Handa³

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
² Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Okayama University Medical School, Okayama, Japan
³ Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, Baltimore, MD, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
James T Handa, MD, Michael B Panitch Macular Degeneration Laboratory; 3–109 Jefferson Street Building, 600 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA;
jthanda{at}jhmi.edu

Aims: To determine the distribution of the 1 to 6 chains of type IV collagen in Bruch’s membrane of the human posterior pole.

Methods: Cryosections (10 µm) from 18 human eyes (20 months to 83 years old) were acid treated, blocked with 10% normal goat serum, incubated for 1 hour with monoclonal antibodies against type IV collagen isoform specific peptides at 1:75 dilution, and visualised with an ABC staining kit.

Results: In Bruch’s membrane, the 1(IV) and 2(IV) chains were identified in retinal pigment epithelial (10/18 = 55%) and choriocapillaris basement membranes (18/18 = 100%); the 3(IV), 4(IV), and 5(IV) chains were also found in the retinal pigment epithelial basement membrane (13/18 = 72%). In the choroid, the 1(IV) and 2(IV) chains were detected in the blood vessels (18/18=100%). The 6(IV) chain was not identified in any sections.

Conclusion: The heterogeneous distribution of 1–2(IV) and 3–5(IV) in Bruch’s membrane could give insights into the function of this structure in health, ageing, and diseases such as age related macular degeneration.

Keywords: basal deposits; Bruch’s membrane; collagen IV; isoforms

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