Expression of Keratin in Pichia pastoris for Biopolymer Applications

Alpha‐keratin is a fibrous, structural protein that can be found in the skin, hair, nails, and horns of mammals. The coiled‐coil structure of α‐keratin affords strength and resiliency to friction and physical stress, making this protein a prime biopolymer candidate for use in the biomedical field. To obtain sufficient quantities of α‐keratin for analysis of this biopolymer and its potential use in the preparation of functional composites, we cloned KRT genes encoding recombinant GFP‐tagged human α‐keratin proteins into a pPICZαC vector for expression in Pichia pastoris . The KRT2‐containing pPICZαC vector has been verified by restriction digest and transformed into GS115, a wild type P. pastoris strain, by electroporation. The resultant transformants are being screened and optimized for expression of the recombinant α‐keratin.