Although the distribution of the two collagen types is widely overlapping, important differences have been described, including a high ratio of type VI to type I collagen in intervertebral disks and articular cartilage, and an opposite proportion in bone and a preferred localization of type VI collagen in the pericellular space or underneath epithelial cell layers (Keene et al., 1988; Marvulli et al., 1996).