Sachslehner Attila Placido, Parry David A D, Eckhart Leopold
Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
J Dev Biol. 2025 May 19;13(2):18. doi: 10.3390/jdb13020018.
Keratins and keratin-associated proteins (KRTAPs) are the main components of mammalian nails and hair. Comparative genomics and gene expression studies have revealed that keratins are conserved in all vertebrates, whereas KRTAPs exist only in mammals. Recently, we found hair keratin-like cysteine-rich keratins in jawless vertebrates with confirmed expression in the cornified epithelial teeth of the sea lamprey (). Here, we report that KRTAP-like proteins are also present in the horny teeth of the lamprey. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics identified proteins that share features with KRTAPs, such as high contents of cysteine and tyrosine residues, which support intermolecular interactions, and abundant glycine residues, which endow the proteins with flexibility. Genes encoding KRTAP-like proteins are arranged in a cluster in , and the presence of at least one KRTAP-like protein is conserved in phylogenetically diverse species of lamprey, including , , , and . The KRTAP-like genes of lampreys contain two exons, whereas mammalian KRTAPs have only a single exon. Although KRTAPs and KRTAP-like proteins are products of independent evolution, their common expression in cornified skin appendages suggests that they fulfill similar functions.
角蛋白和角蛋白相关蛋白(KRTAPs)是哺乳动物指甲和毛发的主要成分。比较基因组学和基因表达研究表明,角蛋白在所有脊椎动物中都是保守的,而KRTAPs仅存在于哺乳动物中。最近,我们在无颌脊椎动物中发现了毛发角蛋白样富含半胱氨酸的角蛋白,并证实其在海七鳃鳗角质化上皮牙齿中表达()。在此,我们报告七鳃鳗的角质化牙齿中也存在KRTAP样蛋白。基于质谱的蛋白质组学鉴定出了与KRTAPs具有共同特征的蛋白质,例如富含支持分子间相互作用的半胱氨酸和酪氨酸残基,以及赋予蛋白质柔韧性的丰富甘氨酸残基。编码KRTAP样蛋白的基因在中呈簇状排列,并且在系统发育上不同的七鳃鳗物种中,包括、、和,至少存在一种KRTAP样蛋白是保守的。七鳃鳗的KRTAP样基因包含两个外显子,而哺乳动物的KRTAPs只有一个外显子。尽管KRTAPs和KRTAP样蛋白是独立进化的产物,但它们在角质化皮肤附属器中的共同表达表明它们具有相似的功能。