Chapter 6 199 from different origins also found a different distribution of cortical cells as a function of curliness.24 In this publication, Tiabalt et al. indicated the presence of meso-cortical cells in addition to para- and ortho-cortical cells. They demonstrate that in straight hair there is a core of para-cortex surrounded by ortho- and meso-regions. There is a decrease in the level of meso-cortical cells present as the degree of curl increases, with the curly hair only exhibiting ortho- and para-cells. This study also conducted an immunohistochemical investigation of hair bulbs. The process revealed that one of the acidic hair keratins was correlated to the degree of curl. Hair keratin hHa8 showed an asymmetrical distribution in curly hair. While other hair keratin expression remained symmetric, the hHa8 accumulated on the concave side of the bulb. The study of proteins in hair, based on racial classification is also inconsistent. The early studies conducted by electrophoretic methods separated the proteins into low sulfur proteins (LSPs) and high sulfur proteins (HSPs) which corresponded to IFs and KAPs, respectively. These studies indicated no differences in LSPs or HSPs but noted a strong relationship of each with hair color.2, 25 However, some differences were observed when looking at the ratio of extractable fibrous proteins and matrix substances between races, namely Asian, Caucasian, and African.26 As mentioned above, as methods improve and subgroups are refined, differences previously unseen emerge. In a 2D gel electrophoresis workup of hair from different origins, some differences were observed. Most variations were found with keratin associated proteins (KAPs) at basic isoelectric points greater than pH 9. More KAPs spots are present in the circled portion of the gel for hair from African countries compared to Jamaican and African-American hair (see Figure 2).27 Additionally, the spots that are identified by arrows vary with ethnic group and indicate different protein concentrations. Given the same racial category and general distribution of curl, these differences are likely attributed to possible ethnic or origin-related variations. In all cases, minor variations in staining intensity occur when the intermediate filament proteins have molecular weights between