Studies on the Proteome of Human Hair - Identification of Histones and Deamidated Keratins

Human hair is laminar-fibrous tissue and an evolutionarily old keratinization product of follicle trichocytes. Studies on the hair proteome can give new insights into hair function and lead to the development of novel biomarkers for hair in health and disease. Human hair proteins were extracted by detergent and detergent-free techniques. We adopted a shotgun proteomics approach, which demonstrated a large extractability and variety of hair proteins after detergent extraction. We found an enrichment of keratin, keratin-associated proteins (KAPs), and intermediate filament proteins, which were part of protein networks associated with response to stress, innate immunity, epidermis development, and the hair cycle. Our analysis also revealed a significant deamidation of keratin type I and II, and KAPs. The hair shafts were found to contain several types of histones, which are well known to exert antimicrobial activity. Analysis of the hair proteome, particularly its composition, protein abundances, deamidated hair proteins, and modification sites, may offer a novel approach to explore potential biomarkers of hair health quality, hair diseases, and aging.