BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ELASTIN PEPTIDES

Atherosclerosis is clearly one of the most life-threatening diseases a nd a major cause of morbidity and mortality in industrialized countrie s. Typical arterial lesions contain both cells originating from the bl ood (monocytes/macrophages) and locally-recruited smooth muscle cells. The structure of the artery is profoundly disrupted. Degradation of a rterial elastin fibers results in loss of elasticity, and several elas tin peptides are released that can interact with various cells via an increasingly well-characterized elastin receptor. Elastin receptor-med iated reactions that are of obvious physiologic importance include vas odilating effects and induction of mesenchymal cell adhesion to elasti n fibers. Other effects are potentially harmful, such as increased ela stase production, free radical release, induction of LDL oxidation, an d stimulation of endogenous cholesterol production. These deleterious effects become predominant during aging as a result of chronic exposur e of the elastin receptor to circulating elastin peptides. This review describes the results of recent investigations into the biological ef fects of elastin peptides.