Encyclopedia > Keratin

  Article Content

Keratin

Keratin is a protein used by numerous groups of animals as a structural element, and is a classic example of a fibrous protein[?].

It is the main component of:

Keratin molecules are helical and fibrous, twisting around each other to form strands called intermediate filaments. These proteins contain a high percentage of sulfur-containing amino acids, largely cysteine, which form disulfide bridges between the individual molecules resulting in a fairly rigid structure. Human hair is approximately 14% cysteine.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Thomas a Kempis

... was Hemerken or Hammerlein, "little hammer." In 1395 he was sent to the school at Deventer conducted by the Brethren of the Common Life[?]. He became skilful as a ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 23.2 ms