Elastin is a protein in connective tissue that is elastic and allows many tissues in the body to resume their shape after stretching or contracting. Elastin helps skin to return to its original position when it is poked or pinched. Elastin is also an important load-bearing tissue in the bodies of mammals and used in places where mechanical energy is required to be stored. The Entrez logo The Entrez Global Query Cross-Database Search System allows access to databases at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website. ... Look up Hugo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Mendelian Inheritance in Man project is a database that catalogues all the known diseases with a genetic component, and - when possible - links them to the relevant genes in the human genome. ... National Center for Biotechnology Information logo The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health. ... Swiss-Prot is a curated biological database of protein sequences created in 1986 by Amos Bairoch during his PhD and developed by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the European Bioinformatics Institute. ... Short and long arms Chromosome. ... Chromosome 7 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... Connective tissue is one of the four types of tissue in traditional classifications (the others being epithelial, muscle, and nervous tissue. ... Elasticity is a branch of physics which studies the properties of elastic materials. ...

Composition

It is primarily composed of the amino acids glycine, valine, alanine, and proline. This article is about the class of chemicals. ... For the plant, see Glycine (plant). ... Valine is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized by humans, so it is considered an essential amino acid for human life. ... Alanine (Ala, A) also 2-aminopropanoic acid is a non-essential α-amino acid. ... Proline is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH(NH[CH2)3]. L-Proline is one of the twenty DNA-encoded amino acids. ...

Elastin is made by linking many soluble tropoelastin protein molecules, in a reaction catalyzed by lysyl oxidase, to make a massive insoluble, durable cross-linked array. The amino acid responsible for these cross-links is lysine. This article needs to be wikified. ... In chemistry and biology, catalysis is the acceleration (increase in rate) of a chemical reaction by means of a substance, called a catalyst, that is itself not consumed by the overall reaction. ... Lysyl oxidase is an extracellular enzyme that catalyzes formation of aldehydes from lysine residues in collagen and elastin precursors. ... Vulcanization is an example of cross-linking. ... Lysine is one of the 20 amino acids normally found in proteins. ...

Desmosine and isodesmosine are both found in elastin. A desmosine cross-link is formed when three allysyl side chains plus one unaltered lysl side chain from the same or neighbouring polypeptides. ... Isodesmosine is a lysine derivative found in elastin. ...

Locations in body

Elastin serves an important function in arteries and is particularly abundant in large elastic blood vessels such as the aorta. Elastin is also very important in the lungs, elastic ligaments, the skin, the bladder, and elastic cartilage Section of an artery An artery or arterial is also a class of highway. ... The aorta (generally pronounced [eɪˈɔːtə] or ay-orta) is the largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and bringing oxygenated blood to all parts of the body in the systemic circulation. ... Human respiratory system The lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity. ... A ligament is a short band of tough fibrous connective tissue composed mainly of long, stringy collagen fibres. ... Beyond overall skin structure, refer below to: See-also. ... In anatomy, the urinary bladder is a hollow, muscular, and distensible (or elastic) organ that sits on the pelvic floor in mammals. ... Elastic cartilage is a type of cartilage present in the outer ear, larynx, and epiglottis which contains fibers made of elastin. ...

See also

• Elastic fibers
• Elastin receptor

Elastic fibers are bundles of proteins (elastin) found in connective tissue and produced by fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells in arteries. ... Elastin receptor is the term used to describe a receptor which binds elastin. ...

External links

• Histology at BU 21402loa
• MeSH Elastin