Plays a central role in hair formation. Essential component of keratin intermediate filaments in the inner root sheath (IRS) of the hair follicle.
Subcellular locations: Cytoplasm, Cytoskeleton
Highly expressed in hair follicles from scalp. Specifically expressed in the inner root sheath (IRS) of the hair follicle. Present in the all 3 IRS layers: the cuticle, the Henle and the Huxley layers. Also detected in the pseudopods of specialized Huxley cells, termed Fluegelzellen, along the area of differentiated Henle cells (at protein level).