Frontiers of Matrix Biology

Abstract

In the past decade, our knowledge and appreciation of the importance of the extracellular matrix in a number of human diseases and inherited disorders have expanded considerably. Elastin's functional role is reasonably well understood in such connective tissues as lung, aortic, and skin. From the biochemist's viewpoint, elastin has presented difficult problems in regard to its protein structure, biosynthesis, and degradation. While it is the apparent aim of this book to apprise the reader of the state of the art in elastin biology, the volume is largely a collection of reviews of previously published work by a number of American and European investigators. Surprisingly little new informational concepts are presented in the monograph, and many of the articles have been written in an obscure style. Sections by Partridge and Gotte cover some concepts of elastin structure and substructure that sustain the debate over the role of "fibrous" elastin in the