ACAN and thoracic aortic aneurysm: Fibulin-1 and aggrecan content within the aortic wall have recently shown key roles in age-related aortic stiffening (47), with significant deposits of aggrecan and versican accumulation found during proteomic analysis of human thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection samples (48) due to either increased synthesis or decreased proteolytic turnover.