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© 2017 Wiley. This is the peer-reviewed version of the following article: Westgate GE, Ginger RS and Green MR (2017) The biology and genetics of curly hair. Experimental Dermatology. 26(6): 483-490., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.13347. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Peer-Reviewed
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Hair fibres show wide diversity across and within all human populations, suggesting that hair fibre form and colour have been subject to much adaptive pressure over thousands of years. All human hair fibres typically have the same basic structure. However, the three-dimensional shape of the entire fibre varies considerably depending on ethnicity and geography, with examples from very straight hair with no rotational turn about the long axis, to the tightly sprung coils of African races. The creation of the highly complex biomaterials in hair follicle and how these confer mechanical functions on the fibre so formed is a topic that remains relatively unexplained thus far. We review the current understanding on how hair fibres are formed into a nonlinear coiled form and which genetic and biological factors are thought to be responsible for hair shape. We report on a new GWAS comparing low and high curl individuals in South Africa, revealing strong links to polymorphic variation in trichohyalin, a copper transporter protein CUTC and the inner root sheath component keratin 74. This builds onto the growing knowledge base describing the control of curly hair formation.Version
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Westgate GE, Ginger RS and Green MR (2017) The biology and genetics of curly hair. Experimental Dermatology. 26(6): 483-490.Link to Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.13347Type
Articleae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.13347