Cross-Linked Features of Mouse Pelage Hair Resistant to Detergent Extraction
February 1999
in “
The anatomical record
”
TLDR Some mutant mice have hair with abnormal cross-linking, mainly in the cuticle, not affecting other hair parts.
The study investigated the hypothesis that defective cross-linking in hair fibers is a characteristic of certain mouse mutants with abnormal hair. Researchers examined pelage hair from 13 mouse mutants with defective hair by extracting it with sodium dodecyl sulfate and dithiothreitol and analyzing it through transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that after extraction, the appearance of the medulla and cortex in all samples was similar to normal hair fibers, with keratins in the cortex being completely extractable. However, material remained at the cell boundaries, and the medulla cells were largely unextracted. Notably, in two mouse mutants (matted/flaky tail and naked), the cuticle cells were more extensively extracted than normal, suggesting defective cross-linking in a minority of the mutants. This defect in the cuticle did not coincide with visible defects in the cortex or medulla, suggesting that different proteins are involved in cross-linking across different cell types of the hair fiber.
