Extracellular matrix
Fibrillar proteins
Elastin structure
- Elastin = hydrophobic, 750 aa long
- Rich in proline and glycine, but these are not glycosylated
- Some hydroxyproline, no hydroxylysine
- Precursor tropoelastin secreted into extracellular space
- Assembly into elastic fibres
- Tropoelastin molecules become highly cross-linked to one another
- Crosslinks are between lysines