Enzymes are the biocatalysts synthesized by living organisms having high specificity, catalytic activity, and a broad range of applicability. One such biotechnologically relevant enzyme is keratinase with various industrial applications that capture a significant place in the enzyme market. It belongs to the proteolytic enzyme group that cleaves the highly stable and fibrous protein, keratin through hydrolysis. Keratins are hard-degrading fibrous proteins insoluble in natural solvents and water. It is frequently aggregated in nature and expressively present in the plumes, hair, nail, horn, skins, feet, etc. The broad range of microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes, have been accounted for producing keratinases with significant biotechnological applications. Successful application of this group of enzymes has been seen in various industries such as farming, laundry detergent, cosmetics, animal feed, pharmaceutical, leather, and textile. Moreover, they have found remarkable usability in environment friendly waste management also. This paper focuses on the structure, sources, and various applications of this industrially important enzyme.

酶是由生物体合成的生物催化剂，具有高度专一性、催化活性和广泛的适用性。一种与生物技术相关的酶是角蛋白酶，其具有多种工业应用，在酶市场中占据重要地位。它属于蛋白水解酶组，通过水解裂解高度稳定的纤维状蛋白质角蛋白。角蛋白是难降解的纤维蛋白，不溶于天然溶剂和水。它在自然界中经常聚集，并大量存在于羽毛、头发、指甲、角、皮肤、脚等中。广泛的微生物，如细菌、真菌和放线菌，已被认为可以产生具有重要生物技术应用的角蛋白酶。 。这组酶已成功应用于农业、洗衣粉、化妆品、动物饲料、制药、皮革和纺织等各个行业。此外，他们还在环境友好型废物管理方面发现了显着的可用性。本文重点介绍这种工业上重要的酶的结构、来源和各种应用。