May be responsible for anchoring smooth muscle cells to elastic fibers, and may be involved not only in the formation of the elastic fiber, but also in the processes that regulate vessel assembly. Has cell adhesive capacity.
Subcellular locations: Secreted, Extracellular space, Extracellular matrix
Found mainly at the interface between amorphous elastin and microfibrils.
Distributed in tissues where resilience and elastic recoil are prominent. Highest levels in the adult small intestine, aorta, lung, uterus, and appendix and in the fetal spleen, kidney, lung, and heart; intermediate expression was detected in adult liver, ovary, colon, stomach, lymph node and spleen; adult heart, bladder, prostate, adrenal gland, mammary gland, placenta and kidney showed low expression whereas a series of other adult tissues, including skeletal muscle and different regions of adult brain show no expression. Detected in intramuscular nerve bundles, where it particularly localizes in the epineurium, the most external layer of dense connective tissue enclosing the nerve .