The Hair Fibre: Proteins, Structure and Development

In the world of hair and wool fibres the role of the proteins in the follicle as it matures has not been well understood. This new book, therefore, seeks to integrate the latest research in proteomic and morphological studies into a coherent description of fibre development from the follicle to its final mature, keratinized form.

The book seeks to do this in different sections. A section that deals with the keratins and their associated proteins and how they assemble into the intermediate filaments in the fibre. A section covers the latest information on the morphological changes that occur from the base of the follicle, through the keratinization process to the mature fibre and the role that proteins play in this. Finally, a section delves into some basic fibre properties such as crosslinking, thermal and oxidative modifications, and how these affect the mature fibre.

The editors of this book are internationally recognized for their work in the area of mammalian hair; Jeffrey Plowman for his knowledge of the proteomics of the fibre, Santanu Deb-Choudhury for his work in the area of crosslinking in the fibre and Duane Harland for his understanding of the morphological development of the fibre. Together they have collected material from other international experts: Leopold Eckhart and Florian Ehrlich fort their knowledge of the evolution of keratins; Dong Dong Wu and David Irwin for their studies on keratin associated protein evolution; David Parry and Bruce Fraser for their work on keratin and keratin associated protein structure and assembly; John McKinnon for his studies on macrofibril formation; Crisan Popescu for the thermodynamics of keratins; and Jolon Dyer for his oxidative modification studies of keratins.

This book will be of interest both to those interested in hair and in the development of new hair products, as well as those studying the natural hair fibre and potential new applications for it.