An enzyme that breaks down elastin, a protein found in connective tissues that gives them their stretchy quality, produced mainly by immune cells and bacteria.
From 'elastin' (the protein) combined with '-ase,' the standard suffix for enzymes, indicating that this enzyme acts upon elastin by breaking it down.
Elastase is why infected wounds can become bigger and messier—bacteria and immune cells pump out elastase to break down your connective tissue, which the bacteria use as fuel and the immune cells use to fight infection!
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