The use of recombinant human tropoelastin (rTE) and selected variants thereof as substrates for the assay of lysyl oxidase activity in vitro was explored. The possibility was also assessed that an insoluble elastin-like product could be generated from this elastin precursor in the absence of other macromolecules found associated with elastin in vivo. rTE was more efficiently oxidized by lysyl o...

Elastin is the extracellular matrix protein in vertebrates that provides elastic recoil to blood vessels, the lung, and skin. Because the elastin gene has undergone significant changes in the primate lineage, modeling elastin diseases in non-human animals can be problematic. To investigate the pathophysiology underlying a class of elastin gene mutations leading to autosomal dominant cutis laxa,...

BACKGROUND Elastin calcification is a widespread feature of vascular pathology, and circumstantial evidence exists for a correlation between elastin degradation and calcification. We hypothesized that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-mediated vascular remodeling plays a significant role in elastin calcification. METHODS AND RESULTS In the present studies, we determined that short-term periadven...

We previously showed that interleukin-1β (IL-1β) decreased elastin gene transcription through activation of the NF-κB subunit p65 in neonatal rat lung fibroblasts. The present study was undertaken to further explore the molecular mechanisms responsible for the inhibitory effect of IL-1β on elastin gene transcription. We found that cycloheximide blocked IL-1β-induced down-regulation of elastin m...

Elastin, a major extracellular matrix protein and the core component of elastic fiber, is essential to maintain lung structural integrity and normal physiological function. We previously found that the downregulation of elastin gene transcription by IL-1beta is mediated via activation of NF-kappaB and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)beta, both targets of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. ...

Elastin-like polypeptides are repetitive biopolymers that exhibit a lower critical solution temperature phase transition behavior, existing as soluble unimers below a characteristic transition temperature and aggregating into micron-scale coacervates above their transition temperature. The design of elastin-like polypeptides at the genetic level permits precise control of their sequence and len...

Elastin is crucial to pulmonary function, yet it appears in the pulmonary vasculature and interstitium late in gestation in large mammals and postnatally in rodents (1). Deletion of the ELN gene in mice produces obstructive arterial disease (2, 3) and disrupts terminal airway branching as well as alveogenesis (4); moreover, several forms of elastic tissue disease collectively known as cutis lax...

Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) functionalized with azide or alkyne groups were produced biosynthetically and coupled via the Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition to a variety of (bio)molecules.

Background: During the first trimester of pregnancy the uterine spiral arteries that supply blood to the placenta are remodelled, creating heavily dilated conduits lacking maternal vasomotor control. To effect permanent vasodilatation, the internal elastic lamina and medial elastic fibres must be degraded. Failure of remodelling is a key characteristic of the pathological placenta and is though...

Normal structure and function of the lung parenchyma depend upon elastic fibers. Amorphous elastin is biochemically stable in vitro, and may provide a metabolically stable structural framework for the lung parenchyma. To test the metabolic stability of elastin in the normal human lung parenchyma, we have (a) estimated the time elapsed since the synthesis of the protein through measurement of as...