A Comparative Study of Materials Assembled from Recombinant K31 and K81 and Extracted Human Hair Keratins

    September 2020 in “ Biomedical materials ”
    Rachael N. Parker, Alexis Trent, Kristina L Roth Stefaniak, Mark Van Dyke, Tijana Ž. Grove
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    TLDR Recombinant keratin materials may better promote skin cell differentiation than natural keratin.
    This study compared natural and recombinant human hair keratin proteins K31 and K81, focusing on their assembly into intermediate filament-like fibers and their potential in regenerative medicine. The recombinant proteins (rhK31 and rhK81) were found to form characteristic fibers and were used to create coatings. These coatings were then evaluated for their characteristics and ability to promote cell adhesion. The results indicated that recombinant keratin materials had a higher propensity for inducing involucrin, suggesting they could enhance skin cell differentiation more effectively than control substrates.
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