One Approach to Testing Whether Keratin Intermediate Filaments Are Dynamic

Essay

One approach to testing whether keratin intermediate filaments are dynamic is to inject biotin-labeled keratin into living fibroblasts and then to compare, at different times, the distribution of biotin-labeled keratin with that of endogenous keratin intermediate filaments. Assuming that keratin intermediate filaments turn over dynamically with a half-time of one hour, predict the comparative distribution of biotin-labeled keratin and keratin intermediate filaments 10 minutes and four hours after microinjection.