Advance in the Research of Wool Proteomics

Wool fiber is like the hair of many other mammals, and they all belong to skin derivatives. Wool is almost entirely composed of proteins, the major components of which are IFPs (keratin intermediate filament proteins) and KAPs (keratin associated proteins). The growth and development processes of wool fiber are strictly controlled by multiple genes and influenced by many factors, such as nutrient levels, seasons and breeds, so the development procedure is complex. Great progress has been made in the protein identification and development of wool through analyzing the phenotypes and compositions of wool. The developing technologies such as protein separation and identification have made an important contribution to the wool proteomic study. Furthermore, many subfamilies of IFPs and KAPs have been found and identified in the wool, which decide the physical and chemical structure and characteristics of wool fiber. In this review, the progress of wool proteomics is summarized, including wool study techniques, protein classification and growth procedure. The aim of this study is to provide some data for wool growth study and molecular marker assisted selection in sheep breeding.