Hair

Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis, or skin. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fine vellus hair. Most common interest in hair is focused on hair growth, hair types and hair care, but hair is also an important biomaterial primarily composed of protein, notably keratin. Attitudes towards hair, such as hairstyles and hair removal, vary widely across different cultures and historical periods, but it is often used to indicate a person's personal beliefs or social position, such as their age, gender, or religion.

Overview

The word "hair" usually refers to two distinct structures:

Hairy RNA localisation element (HLE)

The hairy localisation element (HLE) is an RNA element found in the 3' UTR of the hairy gene. HLE contains two stem-loops. HLE is essential for the mediation of apical localisation and the two stem-loop structures act to allow the recognition of hairy mRNA by the localisation machinery. HLE is found in Drosophila species.

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