Figure 7. Tentative scheme for integrating the interplay between collagen XIX and melanoma cells.

Schematic representation of collagen XIX cleavage by the plasminogen/plasmin system in melanoma cell culture. The plasminogen activator tPA is secreted by melanoma cells and tPA activates plasminogen into plasmin. Plasmin cleaves type XIX collagen and releases the anti-tumor F4 fragment from the NC1(XIX) domain.