J. D. Aplin and S. Campbell, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, St. Mary’s Hospital, Whitworth Park, Manchester, M13 0JH. T.D. Allen, Department of Ultrastructure, Paterson Laboratories, Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute, Manchester, M20 9BX
In placental membranes near gestational term, amnion epithelial cells interact with a highly convoluted basal lamina beneath which is an acellular ‘compact layer’ of collagenous stroma rich in type III collagen. We have examined this extracellular matrix by SEM after fractioning the tissue or removing the epithelial cells enzymically, by TEM and by immunofluorescence with antibodies to matrix macromolecules. Matrix deposited by cultures of amnion epithelial cells has also been examined using these techniques as well as by SDS-PAGE. The principal conclusion is that both in vivo and in vitro, the cells deposit stromal as well as basal laminal macromolecules: collagen types I, III and IV, fibronectin and laminin. In addition, numerous other poorly...