Collagen XVI is integrated tissue-dependently into distinct fibrillar aggregates, such as D-banded cartilage fibrils and fibrillin-1-containing microfibrils. In skin, the distribution of collagen XVI overlaps that of the collagen-binding integrins ␣11 and ␣21. Basal layer keratinocytes express integrin ␣21, whereas integrin ␣11 occurs in smooth muscle cells surrounding blood vessels, in hair follicles, and on adipocytes. Cells bearing the integrins ␣11 and ␣21 attach and spread on recombinant collagen XVI. Furthermore, collagen XVI induces the recruitment of these integrins into focal adhesion plaques, a principal step in integrin signaling. Of potential physiological relevance, these integrin-collagen XVI interactions may connect cells with specialized fibrils, thus contributing to the organization of fibrillar and cellular components within connective tissues. In cell-free binding assays, collagen XVI is more avidly bound by ␣11 integrin than by ␣21 integrin. Both integrins interact with collagen XVI via the A domain of their ␣ subunits. A tryptic collagen XVI fragment comprising the collagenous domains 1-3 is recognized by ␣11 integrin. Electron microscopy of complexes of ␣11 integrin with this tryptic collagen XVI fragment or with full-length collagen XVI revealed a unique ␣11 integrin-binding site within collagen XVI located close to its C-terminal end.Collagen XVI belongs to the fibril-associated collagens with interrupted triple helices (FACIT) 3 family of collagens (1, 2) and is composed of 10 collagenous domains, designated as COL1-10, which are flanked by 11 noncollagenous (NC) regions (3). It constitutes a minor component of the extracellular matrices (ECM) of skin and cartilage. Despite its integration into small heterotypic D-banded fibrils of cartilage, collagen XVI is not generally a component of D-banded fibrils, which contain several types of collagens and further constituents, i.e. small leucine-rich proteoglycans and noncollagenous glycoproteins, in an alloy-like mixture (4, 5). In a tissue-specific manner, collagen XVI is incorporated into structurally and functionally discrete matrix aggregates, such as in specialized fibrillin-1-rich microfibrils in skin. Collagen XVI preferentially associates with that part of the microfibrillar apparatus lacking an amorphous elastin core and is localized in the dermal epidermal junction (DEJ) zone of the papillary dermis (4). Here the microfibrils insert perpendicularly into the basement membrane. This location suggests that collagen XVI plays an active role in anchoring microfibrils to basement membranes. Despite its occurrence in the dermis, it is not only produced by fibroblasts but also by keratinocytes, similarly to type VII collagen (6, 7). However, the mechanism by which these collagens are transported across the basement membrane and incorporated into the mesenchymal stroma is yet unknown. Although many matrix proteins self-assemble and thus contribute to the organization of supramolecular networks, cells also affect the architecture ...