Immunological and wound healing insight of keratin with conformational variants extracted from ethically derived bio-resources

Abstract

Keratin is an insoluble filamentous sulphur-rich protein constituting the bulk of epidermal appendages like hair, chicken feathers, nails, claws, etc. Being ubiquitously present, keratin’s efficacy is extensively evaluated for different tissue engineering applications, however, there is no systemic study till date to investigate and compare two conformationally different keratins sourced from human hair and chicken feathers. The present research emphasizes the comparative therapeutic efficacy of keratins derived from human hair and chicken feather. Herein, isolated keratins revealed differences in their molecular weight as assessed by SDS-PAGE analysis from both the sources. Notably, human hair derived keratin (HK) has molecular weight of 40–60 kDa, while chicken feather derived keratin (CK) exhibited molecular weight ~ 10 kDa. FTIR, CD and Raman spectroscopy were performed to assess the conformational features evidencing the α helix dominance in HK whereas β sheet dominance in CK. Immunological assessment on monocytic cell line demonstrated anti-inflammatory role in keratin from either source. However, HK showed significantly higher anti- inflammatory property as compared to CK. Furthermore, in vivo assessment depicted that HK treated wounds exhibit enhanced re-epithelialization, and balanced COLI/COLIII deposition indicating minimal scar compared to CK treated ones. These findings underscore the HK potential in clinical applications particularly in wound care and regenerative medicines.