trichoplein keratin filament-binding protein; protein TCHP (TCHP)

Function

• may act as a 'capping' or 'branching' protein for keratin filaments in the cell periphery
• may regulate K8/K18 filament & desmosome organization mainly at the apical or peripheral regions of simple epithelial cells
• interacts specifically with keratin proteins including, KRT5, KRT6A, KRT8, KRT14, KRT16 & KRT18

Structure

belongs to the TCHP family

Compartment

cytoplasm, cytoskeleton

Expression

• expressed in all tissues examined including, brain, liver, small intestine, large intestine, lung & heart
• in hepatocytes, found concentrated in tubular structures, in apical cortical region & desmosomes
• in the apical junctional domain in enterocytes of the small intestine
• in hair follicles, localized at the outer root sheath
• also expressed in blood vessels

More general terms

• cytoskeletal protein

Database

• UniProt: http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q9BT92.html