Background of Pemphigus Vulgaris

What is it about?

Basement membranes are thin layers of extracellular connective tissue that divide epithelial cells from the underlying connective tissue or from different types of cells. Basement membranes are very complex structures that play different roles and have different compositions and structures, depending on the type of tissue they are found in. Functionally, basement membranes play many different roles. For instance, they are the site of attachment for many cells; can influence the behaviour of cells such as their growth, apoptosis, development, and differentiation; and can also be the backbone structure for cell and tissue repair. The basement membrane can also regulate the extracellular environment of cells by acting as a selectively permeable structure. In this book, we will specifically be discussing the structure of the epidermal basement membrane, because many of the diseases that we will discuss will require a basic understanding of this important type of basement membrane.

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