. Extracellular matrix molecules are generally categorized as collagens, elastin, proteoglycans, or other noncollagenous structural/cell interaction proteins. Many of these extracellular proteins contain distinctive repetitive modules, which can sometimes be found in other proteins . We describe the complete primary structure of an al chain of type XII collagen from chick embryonic fibroblasts. This large, structurally chimeric molecule identified by cDNA analysis combines previously unrelated molecular domains into a single large protein 3,124 residues long (ti340 kD) . The deduced chicken type XII collagen sequence starts at the amino terminus with one unit of the type III motif of fibronectin, which is followed by one unit homologous to the von Willebrand factor A domain, then one more fibronectin type III module, a second A domain from von Willebrand factor, 6 units of type III motif and a third A domain, 10 consecutive units of type III motif and a fourth A domain, a domain homologous to the NC4 domain peptide of type IX collagen, and finally two short collagenous regions previ-E xTRACELLULAR matrices can influence a variety of cell and tissue functions; their components are generally classified into collagens, elastin, proteogly cans, or a group of various noncollagenous structural/interactive glycoproteins (Hay, 1981 ;Piez and Reddi, 1984). Recent progress in the structural analysis of extracellular matrix molecules reveals that they generally contain distinctive modules, which are reiterated in the protein and are