In Vitro Assembly Properties of Human Type I and II Hair Keratins
January 2014
in “
Cell structure and function
”
hair keratins type I keratins type II keratins K35 K36 K38 K81 K85 intermediate filaments heterotypic keratin complexes macro fibril formation two-dimensional gel electrophoresis surface plasmon resonance negative-staining electron microscopy hair proteins keratin proteins protein complexes protein bundles
TLDR Different combinations of human hair keratins affect how hair fibers form.
In the 2014 study, researchers investigated the role of human type I and II hair keratins in hair fiber formation by examining the interactions and assembly properties of recombinant proteins K35, K36, and K38 (type I) and K81 and K85 (type II). Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and surface plasmon resonance, they found that the stability of heterotypic keratin complexes varied with different keratin combinations, with K35-K85 and K36-K81 forming relatively stable complexes. K35 had a higher affinity for K85 than K81. Negative-staining electron microscopy revealed that certain combinations of keratins formed intermediate filaments (IFs), with K35-K85 producing tight bundles of short IFs and large paracrystalline assemblies, and K36-K85 forming tangled IFs. The study concluded that the in vitro assembly properties of hair keratins are dependent on the specific type I and II keratin combinations, suggesting that K35-K85 and K36-K81 have distinct functional roles in macrofibril formation in hair.
