The Proteomic Profile of Hair Damage

June 2012 in “ British Journal of Dermatology ”

Rodney Sinclair, Michael J. Flagler, Leslie Jones, Nicholas W Rufaut, Michael Davis

oxidative damage bleaching hair protein structure keratin 31 protein loss monilethrix proteomic analysis hair damage hair bleaching hair protein hair strength hair shaft disorder

TLDR Bleaching hair damages protein structure, especially keratin, leading to weakened hair.

The study from 2012 investigated the effects of oxidative damage from bleaching on hair protein structure and strength. Researchers used proteomic techniques to identify peptide damage markers and found that bleaching targets specific sites in hair proteins, particularly keratin 31, leading to a loss of structural integrity. Bleached hair was shown to lose significantly more protein than virgin hair, indicating that protein loss is a sensitive measure of hair damage. The study also linked the proteins lost in chemically damaged hair to those associated with monilethrix, a hair shaft disorder. These findings suggest that proteomic analysis can provide valuable insights into hair damage and help in developing treatments to strengthen hair.

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