Journal
BIOCHEMISTRY
Volume 45, Issue 33, Pages 9989-9996Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/bi0610092
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Tropoelastin, the precursor of elastin, undergoes a rapid monomer to multimer association in an inverse temperature transition. This association culminates in the rapid formation of stable, optically distinct droplets of tropoelastin. Light scattering and microscope measurements reveal that these droplets are 2-6 mu m in diameter. Scanning electron microscopy confirms that the droplets are spherical. Three-dimensional confocal image stacks based on the autofluorescence of tropoelastin reveal that droplets are loaded with hydrated tropoelastin. Droplets are viable intermediates in synthetic elastin macroassembly. Dense clusters of aggregated droplets and partially formed fibers develop when droplets are incubated in the presence of a lysyl oxidase. Lysine-reacting chemical and enzyme-assisted cross-linking conditions generate cross-linked beads due to interactions between multiple, surface-exposed lysine epsilon-amino groups. Droplets represent an efficient mechanism for the bolus delivery during elastogenesis of quantized packages of preaccreted tropoelastin.
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