Every time your heart beats, your lungs expand, or your skin stretches, a remarkable protein called elastin helps your body return to its original shape. But what exactly gives this protein its elasticity? For more than 50 years, scientists have debated whether elastin’s ability to stretch and recoil comes primarily from the protein’s own flexibility or from its interactions with surrounding water molecules.

Now, researchers at the University of Connecticut College of Engineering have uncovered new evidence suggesting that water plays a much larger role than previously understood. In a study published November 9 in Nature Communications, Anna Tarakanova, associate professor in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering, and postdoctoral researcher Metehan Çam used advanced computer simulations to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind elastin’s remarkable elasticity.

“Elastin is the body’s natural spring,” said Tarakanova. “It helps arteries expand and recoil with each heartbeat, allows the lungs to stretch and relax during breathing, and gives skin some of its ability to return to shape.”