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Sub-nm 3D observation of human hair melanin by high-voltage STEM
Takehito Imai1, Kimitaka Higuchi2, Yuta Yamamoto2
1General Research and Development Institute, Hoyu Co., Ltd., 1-12, Roboku, Nagakute-city, Aichi 480-1131, Japan Department of Anatomy, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, 21, Karimata, Yazako, Nagakute-city, Aichi 480-1195, Japan Takehito_Imai@hoyu.co.jp.
Abstract:
The ultrastructure of melanin granules in human hair was studied using 1,000 kV high-voltage scanning transmission electron microscopy to successfully reconstruct three-dimensional images of the whole melanin granule. It was revealed that the melanin granule was composed of a membrane-like outer structure that included many spherical vesicles, and an inner matrix containing a sheet-like structure in the elongated direction of the melanin granule and a sheet-like arrays structure in the cross direction. The outer structure of the melanin granule was maintained even after exposure to hair-bleaching agents to decompose the melanin granule, suggesting that the outer structure was a highly robust structure and composition compared with the inner matrix .
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