The present invention provides compositions for the therapeutic and/or cosmetic treatment of Elastin comprising tissues. Therapeutic and cosmetic compositions comprising an elastin digest stimulate the endogenous production of Elastin and appear to enhance the elasticity of the skin and provide an external supply of peptide precursors of Elastin that penetrate into the tissue to which it is applied. The present invention describes compositions containing an elastin digest derived from proteolytic digestion of insoluble elastin derived from mammalian ligaments with a protein digesting composition, such as proteinase K. The elastin digest is a mixture of elastin peptides wherein the elastin peptide mixture comprises peptides of the sequence GXXPG, wherein X represents one of the natural amino acids. The elastin digest of the present invention may also comprise epitopes of cytokines, growth factors and di-peptides. Methods of using these elastin digest comprising compositions for treating tissues in need of increased elasticity and or Elastin are described.
