Keratin Based Drug Delivery System-A Boon Approach in Treatment and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Abstract

IBD, leading to great advances in the treatment as well as diagnosis of IBD. In this review, we have systemically reviewed the pathogenesis of IBD and highlighted recent advances in host genetic factors, gut microbiota, and environmental factors and especially, in abnormal innate and adaptive immune responses and their interactions, which may hold the keys to identify novel predictive or prognostic biomarkers and develop new therapies. Protein-based biomaterials have been used in many biotechnology and biomedicine applications. This article briefly introduces the use of keratin in Ulcerative Colitis, and then focuses on the recent researches on the application of keratin in drug delivery systems. Keratins are associated with pathogenesis of various colorectal diseases including IBD & Cancer. In the intestinal epithelium principally expressed keratins are keratin 8, 18 & 19. Keratins are a type of intermediate filament proteins which is a part of cellular cytoskeleton have important regulatory functions on the colonic mucosa. Keratin also functions in cell-death signalling pathways in particular apoptosis mediated by FaS & Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF-α). TNF-α, functionally triggers a series of molecular signals for biological functions such as inflammation and cell-death. Keratin is shown to modulate tumour necrosis factor's action. If keratin undergoes post translational modifications specifically-Phosphorylation then it has the ability to modulate TNF - α. This process (PTM - Phosphorylation) has potential to alter the stability, sub-cellular location & enzymatic activity of proteins (Keratin) with diverse roles in cell.