Once considered as inert, the extracellular matrix recently revealed to be biologically active. Elastin is one of the most important components of the extracellular matrix. Many vital organs including arteries, lungs and skin contain high amounts of elastin to assure their correct function. Physiologically, the organism contains a determined quantity of elastin from the early development which may remain physiologically constant due to its very long half-life and very low turnover. Taking into consideration the continuously ongoing challenges during life, there is a physiological degradation of elastin into elastin-derived peptides which is accentuated in several disease states such as obstructive pulmonary diseases, atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysm. These elastin-derived peptides have been shown to have various biological effects mediated through their interaction with their cognate receptor called elastin receptor complex eliciting several signal transduction pathways. In this review, we will describe the production and the biological effects of elastin-derived peptides in physiology and pathology.

中文翻译：

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弹性蛋白衍生肽在人类生理和疾病中的作用。

一旦被认为是惰性的，细胞外基质最近被发现具有生物活性。弹性蛋白是细胞外基质的最重要成分之一。许多重要器官（包括动脉，肺和皮肤）都含有大量弹性蛋白，以确保其正常功能。在生理学上，该生物体从早期发育开始就含有一定量的弹性蛋白，由于其半衰期非常长且周转率非常低，其可能在生理上保持恒定。考虑到生活中持续不断的挑战，弹性蛋白在生理上会降解为弹性蛋白衍生的肽，这种蛋白会在多种疾病状态（例如阻塞性肺部疾病，动脉粥样硬化和主动脉瘤）中加剧。这些弹性蛋白衍生的肽已显示出各种生物学效应，这些肽通过它们与称为弹性蛋白受体复合物的同源受体的相互作用而介导，从而引发了几种信号转导途径。在这篇综述中，我们将描述弹性蛋白衍生肽在生理学和病理学中的产生及其生物学效应。