Novel Biomaterials Based on Human Keratin Proteins

New keratin-based hydrogels, elastomers, and coatings have been developed that have such medical applications as wound healing, soft-tissue augmentation, and drug delivery.

Keratins are a family of proteins that make up structural elements of vertebrate tissue. Hair fibers, especially those of humans, are rich in keratins. Human hair keratins are useful as biomaterials because of their structural diversity. Homologues of keratins may number more than 100, and they have a high level of compatibility in human medical applications.

The new biomaterials based on human keratin proteins were developed by a team of scientists at the Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio, TX, USA). Over the past year, the scientists have focused on chemically modifying human hair keratins and processing them into useful biomaterials with tailored chemical, physical, and biologic properties. Experiments have shown the potential of keratins to enhance tissue growth. In wound-healing trials, data suggest that tissue repair in animals occurs three to four times faster in the presence of a keratin wound dressing.

"These developments represent a new class of biomaterials that may prove to be nearly invisible to the human immune system,” said senior research scientist Dr. Mark Van Dyke. "Keratin biomaterials offer enabling platform technologies that will help revolutionize the practice of medicine.”




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Southwest Research