What is the structure of elastic connective tissue?
Such as lung tissue the connective tissue of the bladder. The skin and in certain areas they form elastic connective tissue because of the high abundance of these elastic fibers this elastic
What is the function of elastin Fibres?
Elastin’s main function is to allow tissues in your body to stretch out and shrink back. Your arteries are tube-shaped blood vessels that carry blood from your heart through your body. Elastin gives your arteries stretchy characteristics that make it easier for your heart to pump blood.
What are elastic fibers simple definition?
Definition of elastic fiber
: a thick very elastic smooth yellowish anastomosing fiber of connective tissue that contains elastin.
What is the structure of elastin?
Elastin and elastic fibers are also found within liver and myocardial tissues. Structurally, elastic fibers are primarily composed of extensively crosslinked elastin (>90%) and microfibrils rich in acidic glycoproteins and are organized into 8–16 nm bead-like fibrils of beaded appearance (Vrhovski and Weiss, 1998).
What are elastin fibers made of?
Elastin is composed of hydrophobic and alanine-rich and lysine-rich α-helical segments that alternate along the polypeptide chain. The hydrophobic segments are responsible for the elastic properties of the molecule. The alanine-rich and lysine-rich α-helical segments form cross-links between adjacent molecules.
Where are elastin fibers found?
Elastic fibers are found in the skin, lungs, arteries, veins, connective tissue proper, elastic cartilage, periodontal ligament, fetal tissue and other tissues which must undergo mechanical stretching.
Is elastin a structural protein?
Elastin is another key structural protein found in the ECMs of connective tissues (e.g., blood vessels, esophagus, skin) that need to stretch and retract following mechanical loading and release [186,187]. It is found predominantly in the walls of arteries, lungs, intestines, and skin, as well as other elastic tissues.
What’s the meaning of elastin?
Elastin is a protein that exists as fibers in the extracellular spaces of many connective tissues. Elastin derives its name from its ability to act as an elastic band, that is, to stretch and recoil with transient force.
How elastin is formed?
Elastin is synthesized from the precursor molecule tropoelastin. Many molecules of tropoelastin are linked together to form the larger elastin complex. Each molecule of tropoelastin has 36 domains arranged in a random coil. It has alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains encoded by separate regions of the gene.
Why is elastin important?
FUNCTION OF ELASTIN
Elastin is responsible for resiliency in elastic fibers. As a fibrous protein, it is fundamental to the shape and form of tissue and designed to manage stress. Elastic fibers give vertebrate tissues the ability to distend and recoil, an essential quality for normal homeostatic function.
Where is elastin found?
What cell makes elastin?
fibroblast
Elastin is synthesized in arterial blood vessels by vascular smooth muscle cells, and the cell type responsible for elastin synthesis in the skin is the fibroblast. These notions are based on observations that vascular smooth muscle cells and dermal fibroblasts in culture actively synthesize this protein (4).