Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Local structure of human hair spatially resolved by sub-micron X-ray beam.


ABSTRACT: Human hair has three main regions, the medulla, the cortex, and the cuticle. An existing model for the cortex suggests that the α-keratin- based intermediate filaments (IFs) align with the hair's axis, but are orientationally disordered in-plane. We found that there is a new region in the cortex near the cuticle's boundary in which the IFs are aligned with the hair's axis, but additionally, they are orientationally ordered in-plane due to the presence of the cuticle/hair boundary. Further into the cortex, the IF arrangement becomes disordered, eventually losing all in-plane orientation. We also find that in the cuticle, a key diffraction feature is absent, indicating the presence of the β-keratin rather than that of the α-keratin phase. This is direct structural evidence that the cuticle contains β-keratin sheets. This work highlights the importance of using a sub-micron x-ray beam to unravel the structures of poorly ordered, multi-phase systems.

SUBMITTER: Stanic V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4663634 | biostudies-other | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC7230295 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4052862 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC9928961 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5514742 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4759601 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC3414886 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC3076849 | biostudies-other
| S-EPMC8885640 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8708619 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7584636 | biostudies-literature