Funny, in the patent they do a good job of trying to hide what it could be by discussing various angles of attack that they could sulfonate.
I did find one part about Nrf2 (sulforaphane induces it) that I have a sneaky suspicion about:
In one embodiment, the invention concerns up-regulating the sulfonating capacity of hair bearing skin, hair follicles, and/or keratinocyte cells by applying a composition comprising an inducer of the Nrf2 nuclear factor (encoded by the NFE2L2 gene) to a hair follicle cell and/or a keratinocyte cell, i.e., agents that increase the transcription of NFE2L2. Examples of inducers are 4-Hydroxyphenylacetic acid and acetylation via p300/CBP.
In one embodiment, the invention concerns up-regulating the sulfonating capacity of hair bearing skin, hair follicles, and/or keratinocyte cells by applying a composition comprising an agent that disassociates Nrf2 from Keapl (Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1) to a hair follicle cell and/or a keratinocyte cell. The agent can be selected to disassociate Nrf2 from Keapl by alkylation of Keapl, or some other process. Keapl, a repressor protein, binds to Nrf2 and promotes its degradation by the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. Keapl binding and subsequent promotion of the ubiquitination is the major regulatory mechanism for Nrf2 controlled genes. An example of such an agent is 4-Octyl Itaconate.
In one embodiment, the invention concerns up-regulating the sulfonating capacity of hair bearing skin, hair follicles, and/or keratinocyte cells by applying a composition comprising a direct or indirect inhibitor of Keap 1 (either a protein inhibitor (e.g., competitive/non-competitive inhibiter of Nrf2 binding) or an agent that reduces the transcription expression of Keap 1 mRNA) to a hair follicle cell and/or a keratinocyte cell. Examples of direct inhibitors are mir-200a, RTA 408, and LH601A.