Isolation of BMs from human retina.

<p>Detergent-treatment of dissected retinas from human donor eyes resulted in the isolation of two in detergent-insoluble BMs from the retina. The ILMs appeared under the dissecting microscope and dark-field illumination as sheets that are often and at least partially curled up (A). The vascular BM sheets were distinguished from the ILMs by their flat, irregular and tubular appearance (B). Microscopic views of isolated vascular whole mounts, stained for collagen IV, are shown in (C) and (D). The whole mounts originated from the foveal area of each one non-diabetic (C) and one diabetic (D) eye. The diabetic vessels were more disorganized and presented numerous vascular aneurisms (arrow in D). Image (E) shows the SDS-PAGE analysis of vascular BM samples from a diabetic (Di) and a non-diabetic donor (n-Di), stained with Coomassie-Blue. Slightly different protein banding patterns indicated differences in the composition of the BMs.