Laminins are an important molecular component of the basement membranes (BMs) in a variety of tissue types. They have a cruciform shape, and are composed of three chains, alpha, beta and gamma., all of which have multiple subtypes. At the ultrastructural level, each laminin trimer appears as a cross-like structure with a large globular domain (LG domain) at the base of the cross. The LG domain is the C-terminal domain of the alpha subunit; it is divided into five homologous subdomains LG1-5 (Sugawara et al. 2008). Laminin-511 (alpha-5 beta-1gamma-1) is a major structural component of many basement membranes (BMs) including the BM that separates the epidermis from the dermis (Määttä et al. 2001). MMP14 (MT1-MMP) has been shown to cleave the alpha chain of laminin-511, promoting tumor cell migration (Bair et al. 2005). Loss of laminin-511 is a likely contributor to age-related hair loss (Pouliot et al. 2002).