Water may play critical role in how our tissues stretch and spring back
Every time your heart beats, your lungs expand, or your skin stretches, a remarkable protein called elastin helps your body return to its original shape. But what exactly gives this protein its elasticity? For more than 50 years, scientists have debated whether elastin's ability to stretch and recoil comes primarily from the protein's own flexibility or from its interactions with surrounding…
Researchers at the University of Connecticut College of Engineering have discovered that water plays a crucial role in the elasticity of elastin, a protein responsible for the stretchability and resilience of various tissues in the body. In a study published in Nature Communications, postdoctoral researcher Metehan Çam and associate professor Anna Tarakanova used advanced computer simulations to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind elastin's elasticity.
They found that stretching the protein exposes more of its surface to water, drawing additional water molecules into a thin layer where they have less freedom of movement than water farther away from the protein. When the protein relaxes, some of these water molecules return to the surrounding liquid, regaining their freedom of movement.
While the protein's flexibility still plays a role, hydration through water appears to be the dominant contributor to the entropy changes observed during stretching and relaxation. These findings suggest that elastin should be viewed as a coupled protein-water system, rather than just a dry molecular spring. The researchers believe their discovery could have implications for understanding tissue aging and degeneration, as well as the development of new biomaterials inspired by elastin's properties.
Written by urgent.news from Phys.org's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
