We found 7 (LAMB2, LAMA5, COL4A2, COL18A1, HSPG2, NID1 and NID2) of 12 pre-defined BM proteins (COL4A1, COL4A2, COL18A1, LAMA2, LAMA4, LAMA5, LAMB1, LAMB2, LAMC1, NID1, NID2, HSPG2) to be significantly upregulated (p ≤ 0.05) in ATAs from T2DM patients (Fig. 1B). Here, COL18A1 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.