[Elastin and elastases. Past, present, and future]

Extracellular matrix (ECM) is composed of a large number of macromolecules belonging to one of the four classes comprising ECM, collagens and elastin, the fibrous elements, proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans and structural glycoproteins. Three of these 4 classes emerged during the Cambrian explosion, at the level of the first invertebrates, the sponges. Elastin appeared only in vertebrates. This protein is also the first to undergo post-synthetic modifications responsible for the progressive loss of its essential rheological properties involved in its physiological functions in the circulatory and respiratory system of vertebrates. The essential mechanisms of its emergence and decay are sufficiently understood in order to integrate them in the processes of development and age-dependent decay of organisms.