title: Immuno-localization of type-IV collagen in the blood-gas barrier and the epithelial-epithelial cell connections of the avian lung.
abstract: The terminal respiratory units of the gas exchange tissue of the avian lung, the air capillaries (ACs) and the blood capillaries (BCs), are small and rigid: the basis of this mechanical feature has been highly contentious. Because the strength of the blood-gas barrier (BGB) of the mammalian lung has been attributed to the presence of type-IV collagen (T-IVc), localization of T-IVc in the basement membranes (BM) of the BGB and the epithelial-epithelial cell connections (E-ECCs) of the exchange tissue of the lung of the avian (chicken) lung was performed in order to determine whether it may likewise contribute to the strength of the BGB. T-IVc was localized in both the BM and the E-ECCs. As part of an integrated fibroskeletal scaffold on the lung, T-IVc may directly contribute to the strengths of the ACs and the BCs.
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jimoh
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Maina
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015824:Blood-Air Barrier / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002196:Capillaries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002645:Chickens / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D024141:Collagen Type IV / Q000032:analysis*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron
chemical_list: D024141:Collagen Type IV