TLDR Hair is made of strong keratin fibers that protect against the environment.
The chapter discussed the chemistry of keratin fibers, which are crucial for understanding various events within these fibers. Hair fibers, a major component of the outer covering for most mammals, evolved to withstand harsh conditions and remain stable over time. Mammalian hairs, along with wools, horns, claws, nails, and quills, primarily consisted of alpha-keratin, a protein polymer made of polypeptide chains from amino acids. Hair production occurred entirely within the hair follicle, with keratinization stabilizing the elongated cortical cells before the fiber emerged from the skin.
47 citations,
June 1996 in “International Journal of Legal Medicine” Hair analysis for drugs needs a better understanding of how drugs enter hair, considering factors like hair structure and pigmentation.
356 citations,
December 1986 in “The journal of cell biology/The Journal of cell biology” Hair and nail cells share similar proteins, indicating a common differentiation pathway.
6 citations,
October 2016 Understanding how keratin structures in hair are arranged and interact is key for creating methods to extract and purify them.
30 citations,
April 2017 in “Journal of structural biology” Human hair keratin fibers have a detailed nano-scale structure that changes with different conditions.
19 citations,
January 2009 in “International review of cell and molecular biology” Hair's strength and flexibility come from its protein structure and molecular interactions.
