Studies of normal and nephritic rat glomerular basement membrane.

Solubilization of the normal glomerular basement membrane with various solvents revealed that the material is held together by hydrogen and disulfide linkages as well as ionic salt bridges which ionize at around pH 10.0. Pronase digestion indicated that differences in susceptibility to enzyme digestion exist between normal and nephritic membrane. Titration of a urea-insoluble material indicated that some alteration must have taken place in the association between various components of the nephritic basement membrane. Chemical analysis of alkali-solubilized fractions suggested that greater alkali susceptibility of the nephritic material may be present. A collagen-like material resembling both tendon and dog basement membrane collagen in its amino acid composition was isolated. It contained 10% hexose, but in addition to glucose and galactose, mannose was also detected. A glycopeptide fraction obtained by pronase and collagenase digestion has a carbohydrate composition similar to the collagen-like material above. These substances probably represent incompletely digested fragments of the basement membrane.