# Elastin degradation

Elastin is the matrix protein that lets your tissues stretch and snap back, especially your artery walls, lungs, and skin. Here is the catch: your body lays down almost all of its elastin before birth and in early childhood, and a single elastin molecule can last over 70 years. So once it is damaged, you cannot easily replace it. With age, elastin fibers slowly fragment, chewed up by enzymes: serine proteases (neutrophil elastase), cathepsins (K and L), and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9, MMP-12). At the same time, the scaffold that elastin needs for assembly and repair (fibrillin-1 microfibrils) breaks down. The broken-off elastin pieces are not inert, either. They act as signals that bind the elastin-binding protein (EBP) receptor and drive more inflammation and more enzyme release, a vicious cycle. This feeds emphysema in the lungs, aortic aneurysms, and aging skin.

## Sources

- Wynn & Ramalingam. (2012). Mechanisms of fibrosis: therapeutic translation for fibrotic disease. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2807

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_Canonical: https://longevity-cities.com/en/glossary/elastin-degradation · Part of Longevity Cities · Updated 2026-06-22_