Ultrastructural distribution of 36-kD microfibril-associated glycoprotein (MAGP-36) in human and bovine tissues

J Histochem Cytochem. 1999 Aug;47(8):1049-56. doi: 10.1177/002215549904700809.

Abstract

We observed the ultrastructural distribution of MAGP-36 by immunoelectron microscopy in human and bovine tissues. MAGP-36 was present in microfibrils associated with tropoelastin in skin, aorta, and spleen. It was not detected in microfibrils from the ocular zonule and kidney mesangium that were not associated with tropoelastin. In skin, MAGP-36 was present in both early immature elastic fibers and mature elastic fibers. In mature elastic fibers, MAGP-36 was localized around amorphous elastic cores at the elastin-microfibril interface and in electron-dense bundles. Localization of MAGP-36 in elastic fibers coincided with the distribution of lysyl oxidase, an enzyme that plays a pivotal role in the deposition of tropoelastin. These findings suggest that MAGP-36 may be involved in elastogenesis.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibody Specificity
  • Aorta / metabolism*
  • Cattle
  • Cicatrix, Hypertrophic / metabolism
  • Contractile Proteins / immunology
  • Contractile Proteins / metabolism*
  • Glycoproteins
  • Humans
  • Kidney / metabolism
  • Microscopy, Immunoelectron
  • Skin / metabolism*
  • Spleen / metabolism
  • Tropoelastin / metabolism

Substances

  • Contractile Proteins
  • Glycoproteins
  • MAGP-36 protein, human
  • Tropoelastin