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Laatsch CN, Durbin-Johnson BP, Rocke DM, Mukwana S, Newland AB, Flagler MJ, Davis MG, Eigenheer RA, Phinney BS, Rice RH. Human hair shaft proteomic profiling: individual differences, site specificity and cuticle analysis. PeerJ 2014; 2:e506. [PMID: 25165623 PMCID: PMC4137660 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2014] [Accepted: 07/18/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Hair from different individuals can be distinguished by physical properties. Although some data exist on other species, examination of the individual molecular differences within the human hair shaft has not been thoroughly investigated. Shotgun proteomic analysis revealed considerable variation in profile among samples from Caucasian, African–American, Kenyan and Korean subjects. Within these ethnic groups, prominent keratin proteins served to distinguish individual profiles. Differences between ethnic groups, less marked, relied to a large extent on levels of keratin associated proteins. In samples from Caucasian subjects, hair shafts from axillary, beard, pubic and scalp regions exhibited distinguishable profiles, with the last being most different from the others. Finally, the profile of isolated hair cuticle cells was distinguished from that of total hair shaft by levels of more than 20 proteins, the majority of which were prominent keratins. The cuticle also exhibited relatively high levels of epidermal transglutaminase (TGM3), accounting for its observed low degree of protein extraction by denaturants. In addition to providing insight into hair structure, present findings may lead to improvements in differentiating hair from various ethnic origins and offer an approach to extending use of hair in crime scene evidence for distinguishing among individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chelsea N Laatsch
- Forensic Science Graduate Program and Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California , Davis, CA , USA
| | - Blythe P Durbin-Johnson
- Division of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Clinical and Translational Science Center Biostatistics Core, University of California , Davis, CA , USA
| | - David M Rocke
- Division of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Clinical and Translational Science Center Biostatistics Core, University of California , Davis, CA , USA
| | | | - Abby B Newland
- Procter & Gamble, Mason Business Center , Mason, OH , USA
| | | | | | | | - Brett S Phinney
- Proteomics Core Facility, University of California , Davis, CA , USA
| | - Robert H Rice
- Forensic Science Graduate Program and Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California , Davis, CA , USA
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