This paper presents a comprison of the isotopic values of eight pairings of hair keratin and bone collagen and 12 pairings of hair keratin and nail keratin taken from living humans resident in the U.K., with the aim of examining whether modern human isotopic data can be directly compared to archaeological isotopic data. Results showed that bone collagen was enriched relative to hair keratin fro...

Pathology observational reports and experimental data suggest that keratin and vimentin intermediate filament (IF) coexpression in breast cancer confers a more aggressive "interconverted" phenotype, expressing both epithelial and mesenchymal markers. In this study, we extended previous observations by measuring the expression of keratin and vimentin, in relation to other selected biomarkers of ...

Azure dye-impregnated sheep's wool keratin (keratin azure) was incorporated in a high pH medium and overlaid on a keratin-free basal medium. The release and diffusion of the azure dye into the lower layer indicated production of keratinase. Fifty-eight fungal taxa, including 49 members of the Arthrodermataceae, Gymnoascaceae and Onygenaceae (Order Onygenales), were assessed for keratin degradat...

Wool and silk were dissolved and used for the preparation of blended films. Two systems are proposed: (1) blend films of silk fibroin and keratin aqueous solutions and (2) silk fibroin and keratin dissolved in formic acid. The FTIR spectra of pure films cast from aqueous solutions indicated that the keratin secondary structure mainly consists of alpha-helix and random coil conformations. The IR...

Pachyonychia congenital (PC), consist of a group of rare autosomal-dominant ectodermal disorders. Symmetrically thickened, dystrophic fingernails and toenails are the defining characteristic of pachyonychia congenita. There are two main clinical subtypes of pachyonychia congenita: Pachyonychia congenita-1 and pachyonychia congenita-2. Pachyonychia congenita-U is another subtypes of pachyonychia...

Poultry feathers consist mainly of the protein keratin, which is rich in β-pleated sheets and consequently resistant to proteolysis. Although many keratinases have been identified, the reasons for their substrate specificity towards β-keratin remain unclear due to difficulties in preparing a soluble feather keratin substrate for use in activity assays. In the present study, we overexpressed Gal...

Feathers are hallmark avian integument appendages, although they were also present on theropods. They are composed of flexible corneous materials made of α- and β-keratins, but their genomic organization and their functional roles in feathers have not been well studied. First, we made an exhaustive search of α- and β-keratin genes in the new chicken genome assembly (Galgal4). Then, using transc...

The expression of intermediate filaments of the keratin- and the vimentin-type was studied in heterokaryons of human fibroblasts and amnion epithelial cells by immunofluorescence microscopy. Fibroblasts and their homokaryons showed a fibrillar, vimentin-specific fluorescence throughout the cytoplasm but were negative when stained for keratin. Amnion epithelial cells and their homokaryons, on t...

XK81A1 is a type I epidermal keratin gene expressed in early developmental stages of Xenopus (Jonas et al. 1985). Fusion of the keratin promoter (-5900 to +26) to a human beta globin gene led to fully epidermis-specific accumulation of human globin mRNA and protein when this DNA was injected into fertilized eggs. Further localization of regulatory sequences was accomplished by injecting marked,...

Abstract Epithelial tissues act as hubs in metabolism and communication and protect the organism against dehydration, infections, pharmacological and physical stress. Keratin intermediate filament proteins are well established as major cytoskeletal players in maintaining epithelial integrity. More recently, an involvement of keratins in growth control and organelle functions has emerged. Disrup...