Comparison of the thickness of basement membranes in various tissues of the rat

The thicknesses of the lamina lucida and the lamina densa of basement membranes in various kinds of tissues, including the epidermis and mucosal epithelium, and basement membranes adjacent to a Schwann cell, perineurial sheath cell, endothelial cell, pericyte, muscle cell and fat cell, were compared on high-powered transmission electron micrographs. Each tissue and cell possessed a basement membrane with thicknesses of the lamina lucida and lamina densa that were specific to the particular tissue or cell. This indicates that the lamina lucida and lamina densa of the basement membrane of a tissue/cell have a particular constitution. New theories on the molecular constitution between the cell surface and basement membrane may need to be developed.