Extracellular matrix modifications in rat tissues of different ages. Correlations between elastin and collagen type I mRNA expression and lysyl-oxidase activity.

We used a rat model to correlate age, matrix gene expression and lysyl oxidase activity in three connective tissues, skin, aorta and lung. By in situ hybridization, we showed that intense collagen type I and elastin mRNA expression were limited to a brief postnatal period. Although there were some organ-specific differences, the mRNA abundance for these two scleroproteins drastically diminished with time. Thus, the majority of mesenchymal cells in young (60 days) and old (720 days) animals, appeared to be in a quiescent state, consistent with the slow turnover of these two scleroproteins. We also measured the activity of lysyl oxidase, an enzyme which plays a crucial role in the formation of crosslinks in both procollagen and tropoelastin molecules. In all the organs investigated, we observed a tissue-dependent pattern of activity. Moreover in this study we focused on the importance of gene matrix expression in evaluating lysyl oxidase activity of aging tissues.