Proposed alignment of helical interruptions in the two subunits of the basement membrane (type IV) collagen

Abstract

We have isolated a cDNA clone for part of the α2 type IV collagen (pCIV-2-176). Deoxynucleotide sequence analysis shows that this clone codes for 439 amino acids from the helical domain adjacent to the C-terminal globular domain of the α2 (IV) chain. By aligning the deduced amino acid sequence of the α2 (IV) chain with the published sequence for the α1 (IV) chain, we find that all interruptions in the α1 (IV) chain coincide with an interruption in the α2 (IV) chain. Additonal interruptions in the α2 (IV) chain exist, however, three out of the four analysed only slightly disturb the collagen triple helix