Expression of recombinant α1–α6 NC1 domains. (A) Map of the pRc-X expression vector showing positions of BM40 signal peptide, FLAG tag and NheI, ApaI/SacII sites used for cloning human NC1 domains. (B) SDS-PAGE of purified α1–α6 NC1 proteins (2 µg/lane). Small variations of MW are due to the presence of short additional Gly-X-Y repeats from collagenous domain in the α1, α3, α4, and α5 NC1s.