Abstract
Basement membranes (BM) are ubiquitous extracellular matrices found at the boundary between cells and the connective tissue stroma. In the last decade, great advances have been made in our understanding of the composition of normal BM and their role in glomerular filtration and cell attachment. In pathology, BM play a major role in diseases, ranging from the metabolic to the neoplastic and from the inherited to the immunologic. The scope of this review precludes a critical survey of the abundant literature available on the normal BM. We have attempted, therefore, to provide an overview of that current knowledge of BM that is relevant to an understanding of the pathology of these structures with the major focus on those diseases characterized by pathologic alterations of the BM.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 656-677 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Laboratory Investigation |
Volume | 48 |
Issue number | 6 |
State | Published - 1983 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology