Keratin 78 (KRT78)

Keratins, such as KRT78, are filament proteins that make up one of the major structural fibers of epithelial cells . Using database analysis to identify keratin genes within the type II keratin gene domain on chromosome 12, Rogers et al. (2005) identified KRT78, which they called K5B.

The deduced 520-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 56.8 kD. Like other type II keratins, K5B has N- and C-terminal domains and a central rod domain consisting of 4 alpha-helical regions separated by 3 non-helical linker sequences. Northern blot analysis detected expression of a 1.9-kb K5B transcript in tongue, but not in skin or in any other tissues or organs examined.