Abstract
Accelerated proteolysis of tropoelastin and elastin occurs in the major arteries of chicks fed copper-deficient diets. Signs of elastin degradation are not obvious in normal arteries of copper-supplemented chicks. It is proposed that the sources of proteases that effect elastin degradation are from plasma and serum. Both calcium-dependent proteases and kallikrein were effective in degrading tropoelastin and partially crosslinked insoluble elastin into peptides similar to those detected in aortic extracts from copper-deficient chicks. As dietary copper deficiency progresses it is also possible to detect elastin peptides in plasma.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 161-168 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics |
Volume | 244 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1986 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Biophysics
- Molecular Biology