CL glycoprotein is the tissue form of type VI collagen

CL glycoprotein (CLGP), the 140,000-dalton collagenous glycoprotein, has been isolated from fetal bovine aorta and nuchal ligament, in milligram amounts in its reduced and alkylated form, using a multistage procedure. This material exhibited a characteristic amino acid composition with a consistent ratio of hydroxylysine to hydroxyproline (approximately 1:1). Digestion of CLGP with bacterial collagenase yielded three discrete noncollagenous fragments. Monospecific anti-CLGP antiserum exhibited strong cross-reactivity with the pepsin-resistant polypeptides of type VI collagen. CLGP was also prepared in the unreduced disulfide-bonded form and in a partially reduced form, using brief treatment with cysteine. On treatment with pepsin these preparations yielded resistant peptides corresponding in size to the longer and shorter forms, respectively, of type VI collagen. A slightly larger, soluble form of CLGP (Mr = 150,000) was detected in the media from cultures of aortic smooth muscle cells and nuchal ligament fibroblasts. The evidence indicates that CLGP is the native form in which type VI collagen is present in the tissues and that it consists of three structurally distinct polypeptide chains, each about 140 kDa in mass, which are disulfide bonded into a triple-helical molecule. The CLGP molecules appear to be present in the tissues as dimers and larger aggregates, stabilized by intermolecular disulfide bonding. The distribution of type VI collagen will thus be as described in our earlier immunofluorescence studies with anti-CLGP antiserum (Gibson, M.A., and Cleary, E.G. (1983) Collagen Relat. Res. 3, 469-488).