cytokeratin-71 (keratin, type-2 cytoskeletal 71, keratin-71, K71, type-2 keratin-34, type-2 inner root sheath-specific keratin- K6irs1, keratin 6 irs, hK6irs, hK6irs1, KRT71, K6IRS1, KB34, KRT6IRS1)

Function

• plays a central role in hair formation
• essential component of keratin intermediate filaments in the inner root sheath (IRS) of the hair follicle (probable)
• associates with KRT16 &/or KRT17 (putative)

Structure

• heterotetramer of two type-1 & two type-2 keratins
• belongs to the intermediate filament family

Expression

• highly expressed in hair follicles from scalp
• specifically expressed in the inner root sheath of the hair follicle
• present in the all 3 inner root sheath layers:
  • the cuticle
  • the Henle
  • the Huxley layers
• also detected in the pseudopods of specialized Huxley cells, termed Fluegelzellen, along the area of differentiated Henle cells (at protein level)
• in all 3 inner root sheath layers, expression begins simultaneously in adjacent cells of the lowermost bulb above the germinative cell pool & terminated higher up in the follicle with the asynchronous terminal differentiation of each cell layer (at protein level)

More general terms

• cytokeratin, epithelial keratins or soft alpha-keratins

Database

• OMIM: https://mirror.omim.org/entry/608245
• UniProt: http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q3SY84.html