Natural biopolymers have found success in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Their intrinsic biocompatibility and biological activity make them well suited for biomaterials development. Specifically, keratin-based biomaterials have demonstrated utility in regenerative medicine applications including bone regeneration, wound healing, and nerve regeneration. However, studies of structure-function relationships in keratin biomaterials have been hindered by the lack of homogeneous preparations of materials extracted and isolated from natural sources such as wool and hair fibers. Here we present a side-by-side comparison of natural and recombinant human hair keratin proteins K31 and K81. When combined, the recombinant proteins (i.e. rhK31 and rhK81) assemble into characteristic intermediate filament-like fibers. Coatings made from natural and recombinant dimers were compared side-by-side and investigated for coating characteristics and cell adhesion. In comparison to control substrates, the recombinant keratin materials show a higher propensity for inducing involucrin and hence, maturation in terms of potential skin cell differentiation.
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Rational Design of Human Hair Keratin-Driven Proteins for Hair Growth Promotion.
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Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400030, China.
Article Synopsis
- Keratins are crucial for hair growth but traditional forms are hard to study and not very effective due to solubility issues.
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September 2020
Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060.
Natural biopolymers have found success in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Their intrinsic biocompatibility and biological activity make them well suited for biomaterials development. Specifically, keratin-based biomaterials have demonstrated utility in regenerative medicine applications including bone regeneration, wound healing, and nerve regeneration.
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In the past two decades, keratin biomaterials have shown impressive results as scaffolds for tissue engineering, wound healing, and nerve regeneration. In addition to its intrinsic biocompatibility, keratin interacts with specific cell receptors eliciting beneficial biochemical cues. However, during extraction from natural sources, such as hair and wool fibers, natural keratins are subject to extensive processing conditions that lead to formation of unwanted by-products.
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Department of Internal Medicine I, Center for Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, D-89081 Ulm, Germany.
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Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA.
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