Identification of antibacterial components in human hair shafts

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are evolutionarily old components of innate immunity. AMPs identified in human skin include defensins, cathelicidin, dermcidin, psoriasin, and RNase7 (1, 2). Some AMPs, such as the human cathelicidin peptide LL-37, are upregulated during inflammation in skin (1). Various microbes colonize the hair follicular canal, and various AMPs may modulate their population and composition (3, 4). It is not known whether the hair shaft per se contains functionally active antimicrobials.