Journal of Cell Science 115, e1402-e1402 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited
Elastic fibres
Connective tissue must be able to withstand the repeated stretching of
dynamic structures such as arterial walls, lung and skin. Elastic fibres in
the extracellular matrix endow connective tissue with the necessary resilience
and elasticity, complementing collagen fibrils, which provide tensile
strength. These fibres are extremely complex, and only recently has an
understanding of their many components and multistep assembly process begun to
emerge. In a Commentary on p.
2817, Cay Kielty and co-workers review recent work that has shed
light on elastic fibre biology. Ultrastructural approaches, for example,
suggest that intramolecular folding of fibrillin, which forms head-to-tail
arrays in elastic fibre microfibrils, drives their extension and recoil, which
contributes to the elastic properties of the fibres. Moreover, in vitro
binding studies have revealed how fibrillins interact with other elastic fibre
molecules, such as matrix-associated glycoprotein 1 (MAGP-1) and the elastin
precursor tropoelastin. The importance of these molecules is evident from
analyses of knockout mice lacking elastin or fibrillin 1, which exhibit
vascular defects owing to defective formation of elastic fibres in arterial
walls.
Related articles in JCS:
- Elastic fibres
- Cay M. Kielty, Michael J. Sherratt, and C. Adrian Shuttleworth
JCS 2002 115: 2817-2828.
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