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Abstract
A considerable variety of basement membrane components, including in particular more
than ten laminin isoforms and their novel alpha chains (alpha3, alpha4 and alpha5),
has been characterized in recent studies. The functional properties of these components
are increasingly being analyzed by recombinant technologies and by structural studies
at atomic resolution, techniques which led to the elucidation of the nidogen-binding
epitope on the laminin gamma1 chain. Novel insights into functions of basement membrane
components have been obtained from gene-targeting experiments and studies of mutated
genes identified in inherited disorders.