Collagen and Elastin are two different components that are important to your skin. It both functions as a binding material to keep your muscle, skin, and ligaments together.
But as people age, both the collagen and elastin lessens its production. And it is important to know how important it is not only in your skin to maintain the balanced amount of collagen and elastin in your body.
Collagen & Elastin
Collagen is the major component of connective tissues that makeup several body parts. About 75% of the skin support structure is made up of collagen. Also including other parts like the tendons,ligaments,skin, and muscles.
Functions of collagen
There are 5 main types of Collagen that are produced in order to play different roles in different parts of the body.
- Collagen I- Found in bones, tendons, organs
- Collagen II- Found mainly in cartilage
- Collagen III- Found mainly in reticular fibers
- Collagen IV- Found in the basement membrane of cell membranes.
- Collagen V- Found in hair and nails.
Stronger bones
Aging can cause bones to become brittle and lack of collagen production is one of the reasons why the bones become less dense.
Skin Elasticity and Hydration
Collagen gives the body tissues structure, toughness, rigidity, and texture to the skin. When the amount of collagen drops it can cause early signs of aging including wrinkles and face folds.
How does body produce collagen
Collagen is a protein that is naturally present in the human body. It acts like a paste that helps hold the parts together. The body produces collagen by breaking down dietary protein into amino acids which builds various types of protein in the body.
And to produce collagen by eating food like chicken, beef, eggs, and other protein-rich food you may be able to increase or keep the balanced amount of collagen.
What will happen if the skin loses collagen?
Collagen has a huge role in keeping your skin smooth and healthy. However this can change when people grow older. When people age, the body tends to lessen the production of collagen. Aside from aging there are also different factors considered to lessen the increase of collagen like tobacco smoke and pollution.
Below are the possible things that can happen if the skin loses collagen.
- Loss skin elasticity
- Reduction of the thickness of the epidermis
- Increases in the formation of wrinkles and sagging if the skin
- Makes skin vulnerable and easily damaged
Elastin
Elastin or ELN gene is a key Extracellular Matrix (ECM) protein that provides elasticity to tissues and organs. Elastin is mostly found in the lungs, aorta, and skin.
This protein has a high proportion of hydrophobic amino acids including glycine and proline.
It is also said to be an important load-bearing tissue in the bodies of vertebrates.
Function of Elastin
- A highly cross-linked amorphous insoluble protein which forms the core of the elastic fibers
- A protein in connective tissue that is elastic and allows many tissues in the body to resume their shape after stretching
- It is also present in the arteries for pressure wave propagation to help blood flow
- It also helps the skin to return to its natural position when it is poked or pinched
How does body produce elastin
It is composed of a high content of hydrophobic amino acids and is the major protein of elastic fibers. The elastogenic cells synthesize a soluble monomeric form of elastin in the extracellular space.
What will happen if the skin loses elastin?
The elastin is 1000 times stronger than collagen. Which makes it very obvious why it is also very important to keep the amount of elastin in the body balanced.
Here are reasons why it is important to prevent losing elastin.
- It can cause skin to hang loosely
- Skin becomes rough
- Skin becomes transparent
- Epidermis becomes thinner
- The skin becomes more fragile
- Blood vessel walls will also become thinner
- The skin will be more sensitive to bruises
How amino acid and ECM works to reproduce collagen and elastin
Extracellular matrix (ECM) is an essential molecule which is separated into three different components, the protein, glycosaminoglycan, and glycoconjugate. As well as all adhesion receptors is a component of ECM.
The ECM mainly is contained with collagen fibers. The integrin fibronectin and laminin which are types of adhesion molecules conduct cell attachment to ECM that binds to produce collagen.
The ECM is a three dimensional network that consists of different extracellular macromolecules such as collagen. And the collagen is considered to be an abundant protein in the ECM.
While elastin is also an ECM protein. Concentrations of the elastin specific amino acids, desmosine and isodesmosine.
Amino acids like glycine and proline firm hydrophobic regions bounded by cross links between lysine residues enhance the production of elastin.
Elastin is made by binding together small soluble precursor tropoelastin proteins to make the final complex. The unlinked tropoelastin are not normally available in the cell, since they become cross linked into other elastin fibers. Then immediately after their synthesis by the cell, after their export to ECM.
How HY6AA will help in reproducing even the hardest to produce type IV collagen
HY6AA is a combination of Hyaluronic acid and the essential amino acid. Including glycine, L-Valine, L-proline, L-Alarial, L-Leucine and L-Lysins.
With the help of HY6AA it allows the skin to naturally regenerate the loss volume that is caused by aging. The amino acids are the building blocks of collagen and elastin protein that help lessen the formation of lines and wrinkles.
With all of this mentioned, it is obvious how significant it is to also monitor the amount of collagen and elastin present in your skin.
For some who are conscious and aware of the existing lines and wrinkles visible in their skin, this information can be helpful for you to better understand the causes and the ways to prevent it from getting worse.
