Bioinspired Robust Keratin Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Although keratins are robust in nature, hydrogels producing their extracts exhibit poor mechanical properties due to the complicated composition and ineffective self-assembly. Here we report a bioinspired strategy to fabricate robust keratin hydrogels based on mechanism study through recombinant proteins. Homotypic and heterotypic self-assembly of selected type I and type II keratins in different combinations was conducted to identify crucial domain structures for the process, their kinetics, and relationship with the mechanical strength of hydrogels. Segments with best performance were isolated and used to construct novel assembling units. The new design outperformed combinations of native proteins in mechanical properties and in biomedical applications such as controlled drug release and skin regeneration. Our approach not only elucidated the critical structural domains and underlying mechanisms for keratin selfassembly but also opens an avenue toward the rational design of robust keratin hydrogels for biomedical applications.

Rational design of water‐soluble, homotypic keratins self‐assembly with enhanced bioactivities

“…Self-assembling is one of the most remarkable features of keratins that enables many of their biomedical applications. [1,7] The process of self-assembly is often affected by the placement of specific amino acids and varying degrees of hydrophilicity through the formation of hydrogen bonds. Herein, we tested the impact of QTY design on the self-assembling properties of keratins.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] Until now, keratin materials have been commonly applied in various fields, such as tissue engineering, hemostasis, cell culture, robot engineering, etc. [2,[5][6][7][8] Obtaining water-soluble keratins represents one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern keratin studies. The first patent for keratin extraction was issued to John Hoffmeier in 1905, which described a process of horn keratin extraction using a lime solution.…”

MicroRNA-485-5p targets keratin17 to regulate pancreatic cancer cell proliferation and invasion via the FAK / SRC / ERK pathway

“…Since its discovery, keratin (KRT), an essential factor in normal angiogenesis, and many genes in the keratin family have been indicated to act a vital regulatory role in tumor cells [10]. Keratin is further divided into "type I and type II" based on the protein sequence encoded by keratin [11][12][13]. Keratin 17 (KRT17) in type I keratin is related to the process of happening and advancement of many different kinds of sorts of tumors [14].…”

Individual Human Hair Keratin Rapidly Extracted Through the Advanced Oxidation Process and Their Hemostatic and Wound Healing Evaluations

“…Human hair keratins, a kind of patient-derived materials, are fibrous structural proteins with high toughness in biological materials, which have been developed for various biomedical applications such as hemostasis, wound healing, cell culture, drug delivery, and so on. − Human hair keratin hydrogel has also been considered as a personalized hydrogel for biomedical applications . The common human hair keratin products, however, are not composed of strictly autogenous materials because the human hair used for keratin extraction is obtained randomly from the barber shops, and the extracts may be derived from different human hair .…”