Keratin 18 interact with Collagen, type XVII, alpha 1, DNAJB6, Pinin and TRADD. Keratin 18 Keratin 18 is a type I cytokeratin. It is, together with its filament partner keratin 8, perhaps the most commonly found products of the intermediate filament gene family. They are expressed in single layer epithelial tissues of the body. Mutations in this gene have been linked to cryptogenic cirrhosis. Two transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene. Keratin 18 is often used together with keratin 8 and keratin 19 to differentiate cells of epithelial origin from hematopoietic cells in tests that enumerate
Keratin used as fluorescent markers to distinguish subsets of TECs in genetic studies of the thymus. Additionally, the baleen plates of filter-feeding whales are made of keratin. Keratins (also described as cytokeratins) are polymers of type I and type II intermediate filaments, which have only been found in the genomes of chordates (vertebrates, Amphioxus, urochordates). Nematodes and many other non-chordate animals seem to only have type VI intermediate filaments, lamins, which have a long rod domain (vs. a short rod domain for the keratins). The human genome encodes 54 functional keratin genes which are located in two clusters on chromosomes 12