Keratin Fibres II. Separation and Analysis of Medullary Cells

Abstract

A mild method is described for the separation of the medullae of keratin fibres. The method consists of staining with gold, which is deposited preferentially in the medulla. The fibre is then disrupted by agitation in formic acid and the heavy medullary cells separated by density.gradient centrifugation. By means of model experiments on whole fibres and medulla produced by dissection of porcupine quills, it is concluded that (except for some oxidation of cystine to cysteic acid) a negligible amount of modification of the medulla results from the separation procedure.