Tissue Microfibril Comparison - Structural and compositional diversity of fibrillin microfibrils in human tissues

Fibrillin microfibrils are large supramolecular ECM assemblies which play different functional roles in different tissues. We aim to compare the ultrastructure and biological composition of fibrillin microfibrils purified from human eye, skin and cultured dermal fibroblasts. This will allow us to understand whether these their structure and compositions have evolved to suit the functions they play in different tissues.