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Expression analysis of the type I keratin protein keratin 33A in goat coat hair
Author(s) -
SEKI Yuta,
YOKOHAMA Michinari,
WADA Kenta,
FUJITA Masaru,
KOTANI Mai,
NAGURA Yoshio,
KANNO Masako,
NOMURA Kou,
AMANO Takashi,
KIKKAWA Yoshiaki
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/j.1740-0929.2011.00912.x
Subject(s) - keratin , coat , cashmere goat , biology , hair shaft , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , hair follicle , gene , biochemistry , genetics , ecology
The coat of a goat, like that of many mammalian species, consists of an outer coat of coarse hairs and an under coat of fine, downy hairs. The coarse guard hairs are produced by primary follicles and the finer cashmere hairs by secondary follicles. We previously reported that hair keratins are components of cashmere hair, and proteomic analysis revealed that their expression is elevated in winter coat hair. To determine detailed characterization, we have cloned keratin 33A gene, a major highly expressed keratin in winter, and then analyzed the expression of goat hair coat. By Western analysis, we detected that keratin 33A protein is expressed only in hair coat among the various goat tissues. Moreover, the expression level in winter has increased in cashmere high‐producing Korean native breed, whereas the expression levels between summer and winter had not changed in cashmere low‐producing Saanen. In addition, by immunohistochemistry we determined that keratin 33A is localized in the major cortex portion of cashmere fiber. These results confirm that keratin 33A is a structural protein of goat cashmere hair fiber.