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Elastin
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Elastin is a protein, and it is what lets certain parts of the body stretch and spring back. It lives in the elastic fibers, which sit in the extracellular matrix, the material cells make and leave around themselves. Fibroblasts make those fibers.
An elastic fiber is not loose elastin. First there is a scaffold of microfibrils made of a protein called fibrillin-1, and elastin is laid down on that scaffold. Then an enzyme, lysyl oxidase, stitches the molecules to one another and builds a network in three dimensions. That network is what stretches.
And it stretches quite a bit: up to half its length, and then it returns to its original length on its own. It works like a hair tie that stretches as you put it on and returns to its original size on its own. That recoil is what is known as the Windkessel effect, and it is what keeps the pressure in the arteries relatively even between one heartbeat and the next.
Elastic tissue is found in many places: the walls of blood vessels, elastic cartilage, lung, skin, bladder, and some ligaments.
In brief
Elastin is the protein in the elastic fibers of connective tissue, made by fibroblasts.
It is laid down on a microfibril scaffold containing fibrillin-1, and lysyl oxidase cross-links it into a three-dimensional network.
That lets the fiber stretch up to 50% of its length and spring back; that recoil, the Windkessel effect, keeps arterial pressure relatively even.
A hair tie that stretches as you put it on and returns to its size on its own.
Elastic tissue is found in vessels, elastic cartilage, lung, skin, bladder, and some ligaments.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingHistology, Verhoeff Stain, StatPearlsPublished
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