Action of jararhagin and BnP1 on basement membrane components.

Paraffin-embedded sections of mouse skin 15 minutes after i.d injection of 10 µg of jararhagin and 50 µg of BnP1. Control samples were injected with PBS. A- Immunofluorescence for type IV collagen. Control samples showed a continue immunoflurescent line surrounding small venules and skeletal muscle cells (green). Jararhagin induced remarkable degradation in the immunostaining of type IV collagen in the basement membrane of blood vessels and skeletal muscle. BnP1 induced only a moderate disorganization of type IV collagen in the basement membrane. B- Immunofluorescence for laminin. Control samples showed the usual distribution of laminin in the basement membrane (green). Jararhagin and BnP1 induced slight alteration in the distribution of laminin in the basement membrane of blood vessels and skeletal muscle cells. The nuclear staining was performed with DAPI (blue). The sections were examined with a Confocal Microscope LSM 510 Meta (Zeiss).