The fibril-associated collagens with interrupted triple helices (FACIT 2 collagens) include type IX, XII, XIV, XVI, XIX, XX, XXI, and XXII. Collagen IX is a heterotrimer composed of three different ␣-chains, and all others are homotrimers whose ␣-chains are characterized by short collagenous (COL) domains interrupted by several noncollagenous (NC) domains (1, 2). Unlike the fibril-forming collagens, the FACITs have significantly shorter carboxyl-terminal NC domains (NC1 domains): 37 residues for collagen XIV, 20 -25 residues for collagen IX, and even fewer than 20 residues for collagen types XII and XIX (based on human sequences). In contrast, the carboxyl-terminal NC domains of fibrillar collagens (C-propeptides) are of a different type and contain about 260 residues. The FACITs share a remarkable sequence homology at their COL1/ NC1 junctions, each having two strictly conserved cysteine residues separated by four residues in their NC1 domain. Several studies suggest that the COL1 domain and the NC1 domain are involved in the mechanism of chain selection in the assembly of collagens . Contrary to these studies, very recent studies on collagen IX show that three ␣-chains can associate in the absence of the COL1 and NC1 domains to form a triple helix, although the COL2-NC2 region alone is not sufficient for trimerization (7). This suggests that folding and chain selection of collagen IX is a cooperative process involving multiple COL and NC domains (7). It has also been hypothesized that the NC2 domain of all FACIT collagens is able to form an ␣-helical coiled-coil, thus bearing an ability to trimerize those collagens (8), but no experimental evidence has been reported so far.Collagen XIX was identified from independently isolated clones from a human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line (9, 10). The type XIX chain is composed of a 268-residue, noncollagenous amino terminus, an 832-residue discontinuous collagenous region, and a 19-residue carboxyl-terminal peptide (10 -12). It is by far the least abundant collagen so far purified, with a composition of ϳ10 Ϫ6 % of the dry weight of umbilical cord (13). Several features in the type XIX sequence place this collagen in the largest subclass of the nonfibrillar group, the FACIT collagens. These include a ϳ250-residue thrombospondin module at the amino terminus, the position of two 2-amino acid interruptions in the collagenous subdomain closest to the carboxyl terminus, and a Cys-Xaa 4 -Cys motif situated at the junction of the collagenous region and carboxyl peptide (COL1/NC1 junction) (11, 12).Characterization of mice harboring null or structural mutations in the collagen XIX (Col19a1) gene has revealed the critical contribution of this matrix protein to muscle physiology and differentiation (14). The phenotype includes smooth muscle motor dysfunction and a hypertensive sphincter. Mice without collagen XIX also display impaired smooth-to-skeletal muscle cell conversion in the abdominal segment of the esophagus (14). Electron microscope images of protein purified from human umb...