ArticleMolecular biology and evolution2020
Convergent Evolution of Cysteine-Rich Keratins in Hard Skin Appendages of Terrestrial Vertebrates.
Article in Molecular biology and evolution, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Remarkable Phenotypic Virulence Factors ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Rhein-induced free fatty acid generation cooperates with silver ions for biofilm-infected diabetic wound healing.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Article
- Hoxc13 and homologs of mammalian hair keratins are required for the cornification of nuptial pads in Xenopus frogs.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Structural and Functional Elements of the Epidermal Appendages in Birds and Reptiles: Conformations and Modes of Assembly of the Constituent β-Filaments and Keratin Intermediate Filaments (IF).Sub-cellular biochemistry · 2026Review
- The Epithelial Egg Tooth of the Chicken Shares Protein Markers with the Embryonic Subperiderm and Feathers.Journal of developmental biology · 2025Article
- Comparative Transcriptomics Reveals a Dual Role of the Epidermal Differentiation Complex in the Skin and the Oesophagus.Experimental dermatology · 2025Article
- Marek's disease virus replication in chicken skin reconstructedThe Journal of general virology · 2025Article
- Caspase Domain Duplication During the Evolution of Caspase-16.Journal of molecular evolution · 2025Article
- Cornified Epithelial Teeth of Jawless Vertebrates Contain Proteins Similar to Keratin-Associated Proteins of Mammalian Skin Appendages.Journal of developmental biology · 2025Article
- Skin Appendage Proteins of Tetrapods: Building Blocks of Claws, Feathers, Hair and Other Cornified Epithelial Structures.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Convergent Evolution of Cysteine-Rich Keratins in Horny Teeth of Jawless Vertebrates and in Cornified Skin Appendages of Amniotes.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Convergent Evolution Has Led to the Loss of Claw Proteins in Snakes and Worm Lizards.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Article
- Donkey Gelatin and Keratin Nanofibers Loaded with Antioxidant Agents for Wound Healing Dressings.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The Evolution of Transglutaminases Underlies the Origin and Loss of Cornified Skin Appendages in Vertebrates.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Dissecting hair breakage in alopecia areata: the central role of dysregulated cysteine homeostasis.Amino acids · 2024Review
- Evolutionary origin of Hoxc13-dependent skin appendages in amphibians.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Comparative genomics of monotremes provides insights into the early evolution of mammalian epidermal differentiation genes.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Development-Associated Genes of the Epidermal Differentiation Complex (EDC).Journal of developmental biology · 2024Review
- Transcriptome and Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis for Feather Follicle Density in a Chinese Indigenous Breed.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Terrestrial vertebrates have evolved hard skin appendages, such as scales, claws, feathers, and hair that play crucial roles in defense, predation, locomotion, and thermal insulation. The mechanical properties of these skin appendages are largely determined by cornified epithelial components. So-called "hair keratins," cysteine-rich intermediate filament proteins that undergo covalent cross-linking via disulfide bonds, are the crucial structural proteins of hair and claws in mammals and hair keratin orthologs are also present in lizard claws, indicating an evolutionary origin in a hairless common ancestor of amniotes. Here, we show that reptiles and birds have also other cysteine-rich keratins which lack cysteine-rich orthologs in mammals. In addition to hard acidic (type I) sauropsid-specific (HAS) keratins, we identified hard basic (type II) sauropsid-specific (HBS) keratins which are conserved in lepidosaurs, turtles, crocodilians, and birds. Immunohistochemical analysis with a newly made antibody revealed expression of chicken HBS1 keratin in the cornifying epithelial cells of feathers. Molecular phylogenetics suggested that the high cysteine contents of HAS and HBS keratins evolved independently from the cysteine-rich sequences of hair keratin orthologs, thus representing products of convergent evolution. In conclusion, we propose an evolutionary model in which HAS and HBS keratins evolved as structural proteins in epithelial cornification of reptiles and at least one HBS keratin was co-opted as a component of feathers after the evolutionary divergence of birds from reptiles. Thus, cytoskeletal proteins of hair and feathers are products of convergent evolution and evolutionary co-option to similar biomechanical functions in clade-specific hard skin appendages.
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