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Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are synthetic biopolymers with potential applications in the fields of cancer therapy, tissue scaffolding, metal recovery, and protein purification. For cancer therapy, the addition of functional groups to ELPs can enable them to conjugate with cytotoxic drugs. [ 1 ]
Elastin is a protein encoded by the ELN gene in humans and several other animals. Elastin is a key component in the extracellular matrix of gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). [ 5 ] It is highly elastic and present in connective tissue of the body to resume its shape after stretching or contracting. [ 6 ]
Cutis laxa and Williams syndrome have elastic matrix defects that have been directly associated with alterations in the elastin gene. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is a genetic disorder where elastin is excessively degraded by elastase, a degrading protein released by neutrophils during the inflammatory response.
Such proteins serve protective and structural roles by forming connective tissue, tendons, bone matrices, and muscle fiber. Fibrous proteins consist of many families including keratin, collagen, elastin, fibrin or spidroin. Collagen is the most abundant of these proteins which exists in vertebrate connective tissue including tendon, cartilage ...
Example of a protein (orange) and peptide (green) interaction. Obtained from Propedia: a peptide-protein interactions database. [20] Peptides can perform interactions with proteins and other macromolecules. They are responsible for numerous important functions in human cells, such as cell signaling, and act as immune modulators. [21]
Desmosine is an amino acid found uniquely in elastin, a protein found in connective tissue such as skin, lungs, and elastic arteries.. Desmosine is a component of elastin and cross links with its isomer, isodesmosine, giving elasticity to the tissue.
The understanding of proteins as polypeptides, or chains of amino acids, came through the work of Franz Hofmeister and Hermann Emil Fischer in 1902. [13] [14] The central role of proteins as enzymes in living organisms that catalyzed reactions was not fully appreciated until 1926, when James B. Sumner showed that the enzyme urease was in fact a ...
Protein structures range in size from tens to several thousand amino acids. [2] By physical size, proteins are classified as nanoparticles, between 1–100 nm. Very large protein complexes can be formed from protein subunits. For example, many thousands of actin molecules assemble into a microfilament.