A murine EHS laminin preparation was used as the immunogen for the Nidogen antibody.
Entactin/Nidogen is a ubiquitous multi-domain basement membrane protein. Basement membranes are the earliest extracellular matrices produced during embryogenesis. They are synthesized and incorporated into the supramolecular architecture of several components, including laminins, Collagen IV, Nidogen and proteoglycans. Nidogen/Entactin, a sulfated glycoprotein, acts as a link between the extracellular matrix molecules Laminin 1 and Collagen Type IV, and thereby participates in the assembly of basement membranes. Nidogen is synthesized and secreted in primary and established mesenchymal peritubular cells and myoepithelial cells, and it affects adhesion of peritubular cells in an autocrine manner. Nidogen is expressed during embryonic and fetal development exclusively in fully developed basement membranes of the ectoderm and is not expressed in the developing endodermal basement membrane or in membranes disrupted during mesoderm formation. This MAb does not cross-react with other basement membrane components or fibronectin.
