Characterization of two possible forms of type IV collagen from human kidney cortex

Type IV collagen was isolated from human kidney cortex according to the purification of mouse kidney type IV collagen (MKIVC) with minor modifications as described previously [Oikawa, T., et al. (1986) Chem. Pharm. Bull. 34, 789-797]. Chromatography of human kidney type IV collagen (HKIVC) on a column of DEAE-cellulose resulted in its separation into two fractions, i.e., one (HKIVC-1) passed through and the other (HKIVC-2) adsorbed to the column, similar to MKIVC. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Bio-Gel A-5m chromatography revealed that both HKIVC-1 and -2 differed from each other in the ratios of major and minor components. Amino acid analyses also demonstrated that there was a significant difference in the contents of several amino acid residues between both type IV collagens and their 80-kDa components, one of the major ones. These results indicate the possibility that there exist two forms of type IV collagen in human kidney.