Cytokeratin 8 (CK8)

Keratin 8 is a member of the type II keratin family clustered on the long arm of chromosome 12. Type I and type II keratins heteropolymerize to form intermediate-sized filaments in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells. The product of this gene typically dimerizes with keratin 18 to form an intermediate filament in simple single-layered epithelial cells.

This protein plays a role in maintaining cellular structural integrity and also functions in signal transduction and cellular differentiation. Mutations in this gene cause cryptogenic cirrhosis.

The human and mouse CK8 share about 82% identity in the N-terminal head domain, 95% identity in the alpha helical rod domain, and 67.5% identity in the C-terminal tail.