Eleven monoclonal antibodies were produced against the human N-terminal noncollagenous domain of type VII collagen. All antibodies were specifically bound to the epidermal basement membrane zone and did not cross-react with other dermal collagens. A binding of these antibodies was investigated with various species and revealed that the reactivities of each monoclonal antibody against rat, mouse, human and guinea pig skin differ from each other. These data may suggest that type VII collagen is antigenic to immunized small animals, i.e. the rat and mouse, and that threre are multiple antigenic determinants on type VII collagen.