Keratin - Based materials for biomedical applications

Keratin constitutes the major component of the feather, hair, hooves, horns, and wool represents a group of biological material having high cysteine content (7-13%) as compared to other structural proteins. Keratin-based biomaterials have been investigated extensively over the past few decades due to their intrinsic biological properties and excellent biocompatibility. Unlike other natural polymers such as starch, collagen, chitosan, the complex three-dimensional structure of keratin requires the use of harsh chemical conditions for their dissolution and extraction. The most commonly used methods for keratin extraction are oxidation, reduction, steam explosion, microbial method, microwave irradiation and use of ionic liquids. Keratin-based materials have been used extensively for various biomedical applications such as drug delivery, wound healing, tissue engineering. This review covers the structure, properties, history of keratin research, methods of extraction and some recent advancements related to the use of keratin derived biomaterials in the form of a 3-D scaffold, films, fibers, and hydrogels.