Major cleavage-dependent epitopes for linear IgA bullous dermatosis are formed at the boundary between the non-collagenous 16A and collagenous 15 domains of BP180

The results in this study indicate that the major epitopes for LAD sera are formed or exposed by a cleavage-induced conformational change, but not by a post-translational modification that occurs only in the shed ectodomain, and are located at the boundary between the NC16A and C15 domains.