Question

Nails and hair are made up of which of the following proteins?
(a) Collagen
(b) Keratin
(c) Elastin
(d) Fibrin

Answer 1

Hint: It is one of a family of fibrous structural proteins known as scleroproteins. It is the key structural material making upscales, hair, nails, feathers, horns, claws, hooves, calluses, and therefore the outer layer of skin among vertebrates. It additionally shields epithelial cells from harm or stress.

Complete answer:
Numerous proteins work supporting fibers, links, or sheets to offer organic structures quality or security. The major component of tendons and cartilage is the fibrous protein collagen, which has very high lastingness.
Leather is almost pure collagen. Ligaments carry elastin, an auxiliary protein fit for extending in two measurements.
Hair, fingernails, and quills comprises to a great extent the intense, insoluble protein keratin. The significant segment of silk strands and cobwebs is fibroin.

Additional Information: Keratin is incredibly insoluble in water and natural solvents. Keratin monomers amass into packs to make transitional fibers, which are intense and structure solid unmineralized epidermal limbs found in reptiles, feathered creatures, creatures of land and water, and vertebrates. The main other natural issue known to rough the strength of keratinized tissue is chitin. Keratin comes in two kinds, the crude, milder structures discovered by large vertebrates and harder, inferred structures discovered uniquely among sauropsids (reptiles and fowls). Keratin opposes assimilation, which is the reason felines spew hairballs.
So the correct answer is ‘Keratin’.

Note: Keratin filaments are abundant in keratinocytes in the cornified layer of the epidermis; these are proteins that have undergone keratinization. They are also present in epithelial cells generally. For instance, mouse thymic epithelial cells respond with antibodies for keratin 5, keratin 8, and keratin 14. These antibodies are utilized as fluorescent markers to separate subsets of mouse thymic epithelial cells in hereditary investigations of the thymus.