February 2026 in “Journal of Integrative Neuroscience” In this study, transplantation of hair follicle stem cells and nerve growth factor-modified stem cells significantly reduced amyloid deposition and tau hyperphosphorylation in an Alzheimer's disease rat model, suggesting potential as a treatment option.
October 2024 in “Frontiers in Oncology” This review examines the potential of K18 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in epithelial-derived tumors, highlighting its specific expression in tumor tissues and interaction with proteins involved in tumor progression, without reporting new clinical findings.
September 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study describes the use of a genetically engineered mouse model, mTurquoise2-Col4a1, to fluorescently label collagen IV and observe basement membrane dynamics during skin development, revealing its stability and pliability during rapid growth phases.
This study demonstrated that cryogelation of human hair keratin allows the development of 3D scaffolds with tunable properties, supporting cell adhesion and proliferation for potential biomedical applications.
This Ph.D. project aims to evaluate the self-assembling potential of hair keratin extracts and study the cellular response to both crude and purified keratins, highlighting their potential applications from biomedical to water remediation.
This study explored the structure and function of lipocalin prostaglandin D synthase, revealing its dual role in substrate catalysis and as a lipophilic ligand carrier, potentially informing future drug delivery design.
January 2012 in “Durham e-Theses (Durham University)” This study found that knock-down of keratin 15 in various cell lines affected cell spreading, morphology, migration, differentiation, and proliferation, suggesting its role in maintaining the stem cell nature of keratinocytes.
39 citations
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June 2012 in “Journal of Structural Biology” Disulfide bonds are crucial for hair structure during keratinization.
June 2023 in “Journal of Biological Chemistry” In this study, the authors identified and characterized the Get3d protein, conserved across plants and photosynthetic bacteria, which localizes to the chloroplast in Arabidopsis thaliana and potentially plays a role in tail-anchored protein targeting, linked to photosynthesis homeostasis.
9 citations
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September 2019 in “PLoS ONE” This study demonstrated that keratin K124 is specific to equine hoof lamellar tissue and established monoclonal antibodies that can specifically recognize K124 without cross-reacting with other tissues.
9 citations
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March 2019 in “Molecular & cellular proteomics” In this study, around 1% of proteins in skin fibroblasts significantly changed in response to reductive stress, affecting collagens and MAPK signaling pathways.
8 citations
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October 2010 in “Advances in plant biology” 5 citations
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February 2022 in “Biophysical journal” This study developed a mathematical model indicating that the amino acid sequences of intermediate filament proteins, rather than flexibility differences, significantly impact assembly rates.
December 2025 in “Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry” This study found that pepsin digestion was more effective than trypsin at identifying keratin-associated proteins in human hair shafts and confirmed that trypsin introduced a bias in the analysis of protein composition that pepsin can correct.
February 2024 in “Cancers” This review highlights recent progress in developing androgen receptor degraders, such as PROTACs, for treating castration-resistant prostate cancer, and notes that several have entered phase I or II clinical trials, showcasing potential to address drug resistance challenges.
126 citations
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August 2018 in “Molecular Systems Biology” This study found that in murine dermis, fibroblast state switching between proliferation and ECM deposition plays a crucial role in tissue architecture and wound healing.
50 citations
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February 2016 in “Journal of Investigative Dermatology” A mutation in the KRT25 gene causes a rare hair disorder with thin, woolly hair.
28 citations
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September 2021 in “EMBO reports” In this study, researchers used cryo-electron microscopy to reveal how the natural compound osthole inhibits TRPV3 channels by binding to specific sites, changing the channel's conformation.
23 citations
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April 2003 in “Journal of Structural Biology” Keratin structure changes during keratinization, but the exact model remains uncertain.
19 citations
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January 2022 in “Journal of Nanomaterials” This study concluded that an adapalene nanohydrogel containing Tween-80 could be a promising and stable topical treatment option for acne vulgaris due to enhanced skin permeability and stability compared to other formulations.
11 citations
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March 2023 in “Stem Cell Research & Therapy” In this study, epidermal stem cells were found to enhance blood vessel formation and support successful one-step transplantation of tissue-engineered skin in a rat model.
1 citations
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July 2025 in “Advanced Materials” This study reports on a zinc-coordinated tri-enzyme nanogel system (Zn@nGSC) that mimics natural enzymatic processes to enhance enzymatic activity and cascade efficiency, showing potential in wound healing, hyperglycemia treatment, and antibacterial effects in a murine model of post-pancreatectomy.
July 2026 in “Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology” This study reports that Echinacea-loaded silk fibroin/chitosan dressings may effectively promote scarless skin regeneration and accelerate wound healing compared to conventional treatments.
February 2026 in “Molecules” This study reported that a novel nanomedicine combining berberine and sinapic acid significantly inhibited the growth of mouse mammary carcinoma cells and demonstrated an anti-tumor effect in vivo, without significant systemic toxicity after 28 days, suggesting a promising, low-toxicity therapeutic strategy for breast cancer.
November 2024 in “The Journal of Cell Biology” This study revealed that basement membrane dynamics are crucial to hair follicle development, influencing progenitor cell behavior and cell division patterns in developing mouse hair follicles.
January 2024 in “Frontiers research topics” This research abstract outlines the innovative approach of the Frontiers journal series, which aims to transform academic publishing by providing open access, interdisciplinary journals that employ a rigorous peer-review process to serve both scholarly communities and the public.
Hair can't be as strong as Rapunzel's because it's impractical to scale up due to defects.
1425 citations
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September 2020 in “Open Biology” This review explores the cellular mechanisms of tissue repair and discusses how advancements in understanding wound pathology could lead to the development of more effective therapies for chronic, non-healing wounds, which are prevalent among individuals with diabetes and aging.
122 citations
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January 2006 in “Molecular & Cellular Proteomics” This study found that keratin and other hair proteins in humans are extensively modified posttranslationally, which helps explain the structural characteristics of mature hair.
58 citations
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February 2013 in “Journal of Biological Chemistry” This study identifies specific molecular components involved in the intracellular trafficking of LGR5, revealing mechanisms that differ from typical GPCR recycling processes.