Keratin Keratin Keratin () is one of a family of fibrous structural proteins. It is the key structural material making up hair, horns, claws, hooves, and the outer layer of human skin. Keratin is also the protein that protects epithelial cells from damage or stress. Keratin is extremely insoluble in water and organic solvents. Keratin monomers assemble into bundles to form intermediate filaments, which are tough and form strong unmineralized epidermal appendages found in reptiles, birds, amphibians, and mammals. The only other biological matter known to approximate the toughness of keratinized tissue is chitin. Keratin derives from Greek ' from '
Translocase of the outer membrane internal targeting signals, not all of which have been identified, and include proteins that take on a β-barrel structure, such as Tom40. Some proteins however, that are targeted to the outer mitochondrial membrane contain a hydrophobic tail domain that anchors the protein to the membrane. The translocase of the outer membrane (TOM) forms a complex made of Tom70, Tom22, and Tom20, along with Tom40, Tom7, Tom6, and Tom5. Tom20 and Tom22 are preprotein receptors, which are responsible for recognition of the cleavable presequence possessed by mitochondrial-targeted proteins. Tom70 is also a preprotein receptor and may recognise some cleavable presequence proteins,