Keratin Fibres III. Amino Acid Analyses of Histological Components

Abstract

Amino acid analyses have been made of five different samples of cortical cells, 10 samples of cuticle, and 17 samples of whole fibres from various placental mammals, marsupials, and monotremes. There were no consistent differences in analyses between these three subclasses of mammals. Although there are considerable differences in amino acid analyses among the fibres from the various animals, nevertheless these differences are less than those between the analyses of whole fibres and cuticle. Thus the amino acid analyses of all keratin fibres have been averaged to give a result which is characteristic for keratin fibres. Similarly an average value is given for the amino acid analyses of cortical cells (which is very close to that of whole fibres), cuticle, and medulla.