The basement membrane in experimentally induced atypias and carcinoma of the uterine cervix in mice. An immunofluorescence study.

Basement membrane-specific antigens of the squamous epithelium of the uterine cervix were investigated in 19 normal mice, in 7 mice with cervical atypia and in 3 mice with invasive carcinoma. Cervical atypia and carcinoma were induced by local application of benzo(a)pyrene. Basement membrane-specific antigens were demonstrated by immunofluorescence with sera from patients with bullous pemphigoid. Both normal squamous cervical epithelium and atypical cervical epithelium showed the presence of a continuous, clearly delineated basement membrane. Clusters of invasive squamous carcinoma were also surrounded by a fluorescent basement membrane which, however, appear fragmented or discontinuous. The results suggest that the ability of cervical squamous cells to secrete basement membrane antigens is not completely lost during carcinogenesis, thus substantiating our previous observations in the cervix of human subjects.