The present invention provides an inhibitor of an autoimmune response to a periodontal bacterial enzymatic degradation product of keratin in gingival epithelium in a mammal having a periodontal bacterium in the oral cavity, containing a substance having affinity to the keratin or a degradation product thereof and/or a substance having affinity to an autoantibody to the degradation product, an agent for the prophylaxis and/or treatment of a periodontal disease and/or a complication thereof; a RANKL expression inhibitor containing a substance having affinity to the keratin or a degradation product thereof; and a method of diagnosing a periodontal disease including detecting the keratin or a degradation product thereof and/or an autoantibody thereto.

The present disclosure provides immunomodulatory fusion proteins comprising a collagen-binding domain operably linked to an immunomodulatory domain. The disclosure also features compositions and methods of using the same, for example, to treat cancer.

Described herein are methods to produce keratin protein-based biomaterials, the parameters required to achieve improved extraction, the parameters required to improve isolation, the parameters of lyophilization and the grinding process to achieve consistent particulate sizes of protein materials.

The present invention provides a keratin BD-3, a nucleic acid molecule encoding same, an expression vector, a host cell, a preparation method therefor, and a pharmaceutical composition contained the keratin BD-3. The keratin BD-3 can be used in the preparation of medicament for antipyretic, analgesic, antitussive, expectorant, anticonvulsant, antiepileptic, anti-hypertension, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral.

Disclosed herein are engineered constructs that have keratin-binding functionality, and uses thereof for hair treatment.

The present invention describes a method to inhibit replication of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by negatively modulating or altering the cytoskeleton, more precisely the proteins forming the intermediate cytoskeletal filaments, wherein the the proteins are vimentin and/or keratin-10. The replication of the virus is inhibited in human cells by intervening in the structure of these proteins. The present invention is also related to the use of agents, including peptides and/or interfering RNA and/or lipidic compounds, the agents producing a negative modulation or alteration of the cytoskeleton to prevent or to treat the HIV infection.

The present disclosure relates to keratin nanomaterials, methods for obtaining keratin nanomaterials, and biomaterials made from keratin nanomaterials. In particular, keratin nanomaterials comprising Type I and Type II monomer pairs are disclosed as well as a method for obtaining keratin nanomaterials comprising obtaining a solution of keratin and processing the solution by ultrafiltration with buffer solution containing phosphate.

Described herein are methods to produce keratin protein-based biomaterials, the parameters required to achieve improved extraction, the parameters required to improve isolation, the parameters of lyophilization and the grinding process to achieve consistent particulate sizes of protein materials.

A keratin hydrolysate including at least 88% by weight of free amino acids relative to the total weight of the amino acids of the hydrolysate, the remainder of the hydrolysate being peptides having a molecular mass of less than or equal to 800 Dalton, the hydrolysate also including L-cystine in a content ranging from 4% to 6%, cysteine in a content of less than or equal to 0.1%, and tyrosine in a content of less than or equal to 0.6% by weight, relative to the total weight of the hydrolysate. Also, a process for preparing the hydrolysate, the oral cosmetic use of the hydrolysate for improving the appearance of the nails and/or of the hair, and a dietary supplement including the hydrolysate and optionally vitamins, zinc and/or L-cystine.

This invention relates to the field of keratin extraction and recovery from keratinous animal body parts (KABP) including, but not limited to, hair, wool, nails, skins, feathers, hooves, claws and other body parts. More specifically, the invention relates to processes to extract keratin from KABP and hydrolyze it to keratin hydrolysates (KHs) using a thermal hydrolysis process (THP) and recover KHs by membrane filtration, in particular, using shear wave-induced ultra- or nano-membrane filtration (SWIUF) or a combination of SWIUF and reverse osmosis (RO), to select given molecular weight (MW) fractions of the protein or KHs or/and to increase the concentration of protein or KHs.