Type IV collagens' isolation and characterization of 7S collagen from human kidney, liver and lung.

7S collagens were isolated after bacterial collagenase treatment of basement membrane material prepared from the pepsin digest of human kidney, liver and lung. The 7S collagens were purified by combination of molecular sieve and ion exchange chromatography. 7S collagen from each of these sources showed similar amino acid composition, electrophoretic patterns of reduced and unreduced samples. Antibodies raised against human placental 7S collagen in rabbits completely cross-reacted with the 7S collagen preparation obtained from kidney, liver and lung in enzyme-immunoassays. Since 7S collagen in known to be a major cross-linked segment of type IV collagens, the data indicate that collagenous proteins of basement membranes are organized in similar networks in a variety of organs.