THBS2 and dilated cardiomyopathy: Homozygous null-mutant Thbs2 mice display a variety of connective tissue abnormalities, including lax skin, ligaments and tendons, disorganized abnormally shaped collagen fibers and increased number of small to medium sized blood vessels in the skin and subcutaneous tissue, as well as a bleeding diathesis and enhanced cardiac aging resulting in dilated cardiomyopathy, thereby highlighting the important role of this protein in connective tissue homeostasis [23, 28].