Collagen Type IV Alpha 1 (COL4a1)

Collagen, type IV, alpha 1 is a major type IV alpha collagen chain of basement membranes. Like the other members of the type IV collagen gene family, this gene is organized in a head-to-head conformation with another type IV collagen gene so that each gene pair shares a common promoter.Types I, II, and III collagen, the so-called interstitial collagens, are in many ways distinct from basement membrane collagen. Type IV collagen does not form ordered fibrillar structures; rather, a meshwork is formed by 4 molecules held together at the ends. Both disulfide and typical lysyl-derived collagen crosslinks are involved. The collagen IV molecule is a heterotrimer of 2 alpha-1 chains and 1 alpha-2 chain. The alpha-2 chain is encoded at a distinct locus (COL4A2).