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Elastin is a key mammalian extracellular matrix protein that is critical to the elasticity, compliance, and resilience of a range of tissues including the vasculature, skin, and lung. In addition to providing mechanical integrity to tissues, elastin also has critical functions in the regulation of cell behavior and may help to modulate the coagulation cascade. The high insolubility of elastin has limited its use to researchers, while soluble derivatives of elastin including elastin peptides, digested elastins, and tropoelastin have much broader applications. Recombinantly produced tropoelastin, the soluble monomer of elastin, has been shown to exhibit many of the properties intrinsic to the mature biopolymer. As such, recombinant human tropoelastin provides a versatile building block for the manufacture of biomaterials with potential for diverse applications in elastic tissues. One of the major benefits of soluble elastins is that they …