The ECM is made up of two components: the plasma, the fluid portion of the blood and the interstitial fluid. Interwoven within this gel are three major types of protein fibers: collagen, elastin, and fibronectin.
- Collagen forms cablelike fibers or sheets that provide tensile strength ( resistance to longitudinal stress). In scurvy, a condition of vit. C deficiency, these fibers are not properly formed. As a result, the tissues, especially the skin and blood vessel become very fragile. This leads bleeding into the skin and mucous membrane, which is especially noticeable in the gums.
- Elastin is a rubberlike protein fiber most abundant in tissues that must be capable of easily stretching and recoiling after the stretching form is removed.
- Fibronectin promotes cell adhesion and hold cell in position. reduced amounts of this protein have been found within certai types of cancerous tissues, possibly accounting for the fact that cancer cells do not adherewell to each other but tend to break loose metastasize (spread elsewhere in the body)
