Alpha-keratin keratin cell due to their effect on the various hydrogen bonds in the alpha-keratin network. Alpha-keratins proteins can be one of two types: type I or type II. There are 54 keratin genes in humans, 28 of which code for type I, and 26 for type II. Type I proteins are acidic, meaning they contain more acidic amino acids, such as aspartic acid, while type II proteins are basic, meaning they contain more basic amino acids, such as lysine. This differentiation is especially important in alpha-keratins because in the synthesis of its sub-unit dimer, the coiled coil, one protein coil
Lectin MBL, the mannose-binding lectin, help mediate the first-line defense against invading microorganisms. Other lectins within the immune system are thought to play a role in self-nonself discrimination and they likely modulate inflammatory and autoreactive processes. Intelectins (X-type lectins) were shown to bind microbial glycans and may function in the innate immune system as well. Lectins may be involved in pattern recognition and pathogen elimination in the innate immunity of vertebrates including fishes. The function of lectins in plants (legume lectin) is still uncertain. Once thought to be necessary for rhizobia binding, this proposed function was ruled out through lectin-knockout transgene