Electrophoretic Variability in Human Head Hair: Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis of Hair Proteins in the Presence of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and Urea
January 1987
in “
Electrophoresis
”
TLDR Human head hair proteins can be typed into eight distinct patterns, useful for genetic and forensic investigations.
The study described a fast and simple method for typing human head hair proteins using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and urea. Hair samples from 445 individuals revealed eight distinct polypeptide patterns (phenotypes), labeled K1 to K8, with K1 being the most common, found in approximately 79% of the samples. These phenotypes were characterized by different patterns of major polypeptide bands ranging from 45 to 60 kDa. The high reproducibility of the results suggested that each phenotype was specific to an individual's head hair, making electrophoretic keratin typing a promising tool for genetic and forensic investigations.
