Immunolocalisation of extracellular matrix macromolecules in the rat spinal cord

Extracellular matrix macromolecules are involved in many aspects of cell biology. The knowledge concerning the presence, the distribution and the role of these macromolecules in the central nervous system has not yet received sufficient attention. In the present work we studied by indirect immunohistochemical methods the localisation of five extracellular matrix macromolecules in the spinal cord of rats: three collagens: type I, type III, and type IV, and two structural glycoproteins: laminin and fibronectin. We found that all five macromolecules are present in the spinal cord of normal animals. They are localised exclusively in the connective type tissues: the meningeal sheets and the vascular walls. Only type I and type III collagens and fibronectin could be demonstrated around the epithelial cells of the ependyma.