Study of the keratinization process in human hair follicle by X-ray microdiffraction

Synchrotron X-ray micro-diffraction studies along the follicle and the hair fibre allowed us to follow the keratinization process and the progressive organization of the keratin: i) molecular organization appeared progressively in the follicle; the formation of alpha-helices was completed inside the follicle. ii) supramolecular organization appeared only outside the follicle, far from the bulb; filament structure was observed far from the follicle. Comparisons between structures observed for in vitro and in vivo grown hair, whatever in the bulb or in the fibre, indicate there is no evidence of any structural difference. More, no variation in the transition in vivo/in vitro zone has been observed. In vitro and in vivo fibres exhibited the same structure.