cytokeratin-73 (keratin, type-2 cytoskeletal 73, keratin-73, type-2 keratin-36, type-2 inner root sheath-specific keratin-K6irs3, KRT73, K6IRS3, KB36, KRT6IRS3)

Function

• role in hair formation
• specific component of keratin intermediate filaments in the inner root sheath of the hair follicle (probable)

Structure

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

Alternative splicing

named isoforms=2

Expression

• highly expressed in hair follicles from scalp
• in hair, specifically present in the inner root sheath of the hair follicle
• present in the inner root sheath cuticle, but not in Henle or Huxley layers
• in the inner root sheath cuticle, it is expressed between the lowermost bulb region of the cuticle & the region where Henle cells undergo abrupt terminal differentiation
• detected up to uppermost cortex region where cuticle cells terminally differentiate (at protein level)

More general terms

• cytokeratin, epithelial keratins or soft alpha-keratins

Database

• Kegg: http://www.genome.jp/dbget-bin/www_bget?hsa:3191
• OMIM: https://mirror.omim.org/entry/608247
• UniProt: http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q86Y46.html