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Affinity purified antibodies to plasma fibronectin were used to localize fibronectin in the connective tissues of inflamed and noninflamed beagle gingiva. In noninfiltrated gingival connective tissue, fibronectin was demonstrated in the basement membrane beneath gingival epithelium and around blood vessels as a uniform and intensely stained band about 3 to 10 micron thick. Fibronectin was also distributed throughout the connective tissue in association with collagen fibrils as a more diffuse, less intensely stained pattern. The inflamed gingiva included in this study was characterized by proliferation of epithelial pegs, heavy infiltration of plasma cells and loss of collagen within the subepithelial connective tissue. In these sites, fibronectin was present as an intensely stained band around blood vessels and at the crest of connective tissue papillae nearest the sulcular space. The fibronectin in the basement membrane beneath the epithelium appeared diminished and less uniformly distributed. A delicate network of fibronectin was present around plasma cells and the remaining collagen fibers.

Ferritin and peroxidase-conjugated antibodies were used in an indirect antibody method to localize fibronectin in gingival connective tissues. Fibronectin was found in the basal lamina beneath the epithelium and endothelium. Collagen fibrils associated with the basement membranes were also heavily coated by fibronectin. Amorphous patches of fibronectin were found adjacent to the plasma membrane of epithelial cells as well as free in the interepithelial spaces. Fibronectin was present throughout the connective tissue in close association with individual collagen fibrils, apparently serving as an interfibrillar cementing substance. Patches of fibronectin were located at the cell surface of fibroblasts, plasma cells, lymphocytes, endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and neutrophils. These amorphous patches were observed to connect adjacent cells across narrow spaces and to connect cells to collagen fibrils. The heavy labeling for fibronectin visualized by fluorescent microscopy around gingival blood vessels (Cho et al., 1985) can be accounted for by a heavy coating of fibronectin on the collagen fibrils and basal laminas associated with endothelial cells, as well as by the presence of abundant deposits of fibronectin along the cell membranes of endothelial cells and in the intercellular spaces of the vessel wall.