Signaling pathways in elastic tissues.

For many years elastin was considered as the matrix component structurally required to provide tissue elasticity. However, the expanded knowledge on the regulation of connective tissue homeostasis has revealed that elastic fibers also represent a source of elastokines and are the target of a number of signaling pathways mainly involving the TGF-β/BMP axis. A better understanding of these complex regulatory networks may pave the way for targeted therapeutic strategies in a number of genetic as well as acquired diseases and for the development of new functionalized biomaterials.