Methods to Synthesize and Assemble Recombinant Keratins. 2021

Wenwen Zhang, and Yimin Fan
Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.

Keratin, as one of the most abundant and underexploited protein sources, is a ubiquitous biological material that commonly exists in epithelial cells. Due to the excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, keratin is widely used in biomedical applications. Previously, these biomaterials were prepared by dissolving and extracting the keratinous materials. However, the keratins obtained by direct extraction is not pure and contain many by-products. Moreover, natural keratins suffer from limited sequence tenability. In comparison, the recombinant keratin proteins produced by recombinant technology can overcome these drawbacks while maintaining the desired chemical and physical characteristics of natural keratins. Accordingly, this chapter mainly introduces the experimental protocols of the recombination of keratin. As these recombinant keratins are often used for assembly of intermediate filaments (IFs) in vitro, assembly protocols are also introduced in this chapter.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007382 Intermediate Filaments Cytoplasmic filaments intermediate in diameter (about 10 nanometers) between the microfilaments and the microtubules. They may be composed of any of a number of different proteins and form a ring around the cell nucleus. Tonofilaments,Neurofilaments,Filament, Intermediate,Filaments, Intermediate,Intermediate Filament,Neurofilament,Tonofilament
D007633 Keratins A class of fibrous proteins or scleroproteins that represents the principal constituent of EPIDERMIS; HAIR; NAILS; horny tissues, and the organic matrix of tooth ENAMEL. Two major conformational groups have been characterized, alpha-keratin, whose peptide backbone forms a coiled-coil alpha helical structure consisting of TYPE I KERATIN and a TYPE II KERATIN, and beta-keratin, whose backbone forms a zigzag or pleated sheet structure. alpha-Keratins have been classified into at least 20 subtypes. In addition multiple isoforms of subtypes have been found which may be due to GENE DUPLICATION. Cytokeratin,Keratin Associated Protein,Keratin,Keratin-Associated Proteins,alpha-Keratin,Associated Protein, Keratin,Keratin Associated Proteins,Protein, Keratin Associated,alpha Keratin
D011994 Recombinant Proteins Proteins prepared by recombinant DNA technology. Biosynthetic Protein,Biosynthetic Proteins,DNA Recombinant Proteins,Recombinant Protein,Proteins, Biosynthetic,Proteins, Recombinant DNA,DNA Proteins, Recombinant,Protein, Biosynthetic,Protein, Recombinant,Proteins, DNA Recombinant,Proteins, Recombinant,Recombinant DNA Proteins,Recombinant Proteins, DNA
D003599 Cytoskeleton The network of filaments, tubules, and interconnecting filamentous bridges which give shape, structure, and organization to the cytoplasm. Cytoplasmic Filaments,Cytoskeletal Filaments,Microtrabecular Lattice,Cytoplasmic Filament,Cytoskeletal Filament,Cytoskeletons,Filament, Cytoplasmic,Filament, Cytoskeletal,Filaments, Cytoplasmic,Filaments, Cytoskeletal,Lattice, Microtrabecular,Lattices, Microtrabecular,Microtrabecular Lattices

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