A comparative study of two isolation procedures for elastin and contaminating substances in fetal and adult rabbit...

A quantitative study of the individual steps in the isolation of elastin from mature and fetal aortas of rabbits was carried out. The proportions of insoluble residue and acetone- and ether-soluble substances were determined. The yields of elastin and other associated components of connective tissue derived from the aortas by two different isolation procedures were compared, i.e. the classical Lansing treatment with hot alkali and the less drastic procedure described by Rasmussen et al. Results were found to be strongly influenced by the method used. The purity of the elastin preparations was evaluated by means of amino acid analyses for relative contents of desmosines and dicarboxylic amino acids. The possible reasons for the differences found are discussed.