Elastin enables the reversible deformation of elastic tissues and can withstand decades of repetitive forces. Tropoelastin is the soluble precursor to elastin, the main elastic protein found in mammals. Little is known of the shape and mechanism of assembly of tropoelastin as its unique composition and propensity to self-associate has hampered structural studies. In this study, we solve the nanostructure of full-length and corresponding overlapping fragments of tropoelastin using small angle X-ray and neutron scattering, allowing us to identify discrete regions of the molecule. Tropoelastin is an asymmetric coil, with a protruding foot that encompasses the C-terminal cell interaction motif. We show that individual tropoelastin molecules are highly extensible yet elastic without hysteresis to perform as highly efficient molecular nanosprings. Our findings shed light on how biology uses this single protein to build durable elastic structures that allow for cell attachment to an appended foot. We present a unique model for head-to-tail assembly which allows for the propagation of the molecule’s asymmetric coil through a stacked spring design.

Concentrated γ-crystallin and lysozyme solutions have been reported to undergo a fluid–fluid phase separation when cooled below a critical temperature. This behavior is under control of the weak forces acting in solution between macromolecules. We have used small angle x-ray scattering at the synchrotron radiation facility LURE (Orsay, France) to analyze the interaction potentials. A model of attractive interactions which depends upon three parameters, protein diameter, potential depth, and range, is able to account for both the x-ray structure factors measured at high temperature and for the low temperature phase separation. Although van der Waals forces could be at the origin of the attractive interaction potentials, other more specific effects also contribute to the protein phase diagrams.