Melanin Distribution in Human Skin: Influence of Cytoskeletal,Polarity, and Centrosome-Related Machinery of Stratum basale Keratinocytes

Melanin granules cluster within supra-nuclear caps in basal keratinocytes (KCs) of the human epidermis, where they protect KC genomic DNA against ultraviolet radiation (UVR) damage. While much is known about melanogenesis in melanocytes (MCs) and a moderate amount about melanin transfer from MC to KC, we know little about the fate of melanin once inside KCs. We recently reported that melanin fate in progenitor KCs is regulated by rare asymmetric organelle movement during mitosis. Here, we explore the role of actin, microtubules, and centrosome-associated machinery in distributing melanin within KCs. Short-term cultures of human skin explants were treated with cytochalasin-B and nocodazole to target actin filaments and microtubules, respectively. Treatment effects on melanin distribution were assessed by the Warthin–Starry stain, on centrosome-associated proteins by immunofluorescence microscopy, and on co-localisation with melanin granules by brightfield microscopy. Cytochalasin-B treatment disassembled supra-nuclear melanin caps, while nocodazole treatment moved melanin from the apical to basal KC domain. Centrosome and centriolar satellite-associated proteins showed a high degree of co-localisation with melanin. Thus, once melanin granules are transferred to KCs, their preferred apical distribution appears to be facilitated by coordinated movement of centrosomes and centriolar satellites. This mechanism may control melanin’s strategic position within UVR-exposed KCs.     

The Importance of Free Fatty Chain Length on the Lipid Organization in the Long Periodicity Phase

The skin’s barrier ability is an essential function for terrestrial survival, which is controlled by intercellular lipids within the stratum corneum (SC) layer. In this barrier, free fatty acids (FFAs) are an important lipid class. As seen in inflammatory skin diseases, when the lipid chain length is reduced, a reduction in the barrier’s performance is observed. In this study, we have investigated the contributing effects of various FFA chain lengths on the lamellar phase, lateral packing. The repeat distance of the lamellar phase increased with FFA chain length (C20–C28), while shorter FFAs (C16 to C18) had the opposite behaviour. While the lateral packing was affected, the orthorhombic to hexagonal to fluid phase transitions were not affected by the FFA chain length. Porcine SC lipid composition mimicking model was then used to investigate the proportional effect of shorter FFA C16, up to 50% content of the total FFA mixture. At this level, no difference in the overall lamellar phases and lateral packing was observed, while a significant increase in the water permeability was detected. Our results demonstrate a FFA C16 threshold that must be exceeded before the structure and barrier function of the long periodicity phase (LPP) is affected. These results are important to understand the lipid behaviour in this unique LPP structure as well as for the understanding, treatment, and development of inflammatory skin conditions.     

hTERT-Driven Immortalization of RDEB Fibroblast and Keratinocyte Cell Lines Followed by Cre-Mediated Transgene Elimination

The recessive form of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a crippling disease caused by impairments in the junctions of the dermis and the basement membrane of the epidermis. Using ectopic expression of hTERT/hTERT + BMI-1 in primary cells, we developed expansible cultures of RDEB fibroblasts and keratinocytes. We showed that they display the properties of their founders, including morphology, contraction ability and expression of the respective specific markers including reduced secretion of type VII collagen (C7). The immortalized keratinocytes retained normal stratification in 3D skin equivalents. The comparison of secreted protein patterns from immortalized RDEB and healthy keratinocytes revealed the differences in the contents of the extracellular matrix that were earlier observed specifically for RDEB. We demonstrated the possibility to reverse the genotype of immortalized cells to the state closer to the progenitors by the Cre-dependent hTERT switch off. Increased β-galactosidase activity and reduced proliferation of fibroblasts were shown after splitting out of transgenes. We anticipate our cell lines to be tractable models for studying RDEB from the level of single-cell changes to the evaluation of 3D skin equivalents. Our approach permits the creation of standardized and expandable models of RDEB that can be compared with the models based on primary cell cultures.     

电致孔经皮给药：表面活性剂对孔道存在时间和药物传输的影响

Electroporation creates aqueous pathways by short high-voltage pulses resulting in a transient perme- abilization of stratum corneum and an increase in the transdermal delivery rate.However the aqueous pathways will reseal after pulsing,which leads to the rapid drop of transdermal flux.In the present study,the surfactants were added to the donor solution to hinder the shrinkage and resealing of the electropore,and to prolong the lifetime of the aqueous pathways with the consideration that the surfactants could reduce the surface energy of the electropore. These effects of surfactants were demonstrated by the dynamic electrical resistance of the skin and the fluorescent imaging of the local transport regions.Piroxicam（PIX）was transported percutaneously in the presence of surfactants in vitro.Owing to the longer lifetime of aqueous pathways,together with the promotion of PIX availability at the barrier exterior and the improvement in the partition of PIX into the aqueous pathways,the presence of surfactants led to a remarkable increase in the transdermal delivery rate during electroporation and a significant growth of the accumulative transdermal amount of PIX.     

旁氏,夏天里的女人故事

美白产品始终是夏季护肤品市场竞争的焦点，旁氏推出“日夜美白不停顿”的新概念以应对传统美白产品的挑战，并利用策略发展和广告创意的源动力——“消费者洞察力”概念推出了一套精准的传播策略和创意出色的广告，对消费者产生了很强的吸引力。     

天然中草药美白祛斑化妆品

根据色斑的形成机理，采用相应的天然草本植物提取物淡化色斑。根据细胞内黑色素形成机理，选用适当抑制剂。减少黑色素的过量生成，防止皮肤表皮的继续黑化，提出美白与祛斑化妆品的合理配制方法。     

个人洗护用品配方原理及应用技术(Ⅱ)--护肤品配方原理及应用

从护肤品配方原理、各类配方成分(如乳化剂)介绍和其应用等方面讨论护肤品开发应用的相关注意要点，并给出了参考配方。     

Hydrolysis of human horny cells by alkaline protease: Morphological observation of the process

The interaction of highly purified alkaline protease fromBacillus sp. KSM-K16 with the horny cells of human skin contained in skin grime was directly visualized by electron microscopy. It became clear that the protease first penetrates the horny cells and then adsorbs, mainly onto the internal structure of the cells at the initial stage of hydrolysis, and directly hydrolyzes the keratin filaments, though the marginal band surrounding them retains its original shape. Then, hydrolysate produced from the keratin filaments flows out of the cell, and early in the hydrolysis process keratin filaments decrease and then disappear, leaving a marginal band, i.e., the cell turns to a hollow state. As a result, the remaining marginal band loses support from inside the cell, thus promoting cleavage and dispersion. Until this stage in the protease reaction, the remarkable liberation of hydrolysis products as water-soluble protein does not occur.     

基于分裂式K均值聚类的肤色检测方法

针对复杂图像背景及光照导致的肤色检测率不高的问题,提出一种基于分裂式K均值聚类的椭圆模型肤色检测方法。该方法对图像进行光线补偿处理,采用Gray World方法对图像进行颜色均衡,选择建立检测效率较高的椭圆肤色模型进行肤色检测,并在检测出的肤色区域上采用分裂式K均值聚类(FKM)进行二次的肤色判决,进一步准确检测出肤色区域。实验表明,所提出的检测算法能准确高效地检测出肤色区域,具有较高地准确率和较强的鲁棒性。     

基于多尺度特征融合的皮肤烧伤创面分级算法

为实现遭受重大火灾等灾害后,对伤员皮肤烧伤自动化分级,加快诊断效率,提出提出一种用于皮肤烧伤分类的轻量化模型BI-YOLOv5算法。替换Swish激活函数,提高模型收敛能力及检测效率;使用K-means++算法对anchors聚类分析,增强对不同尺度目标的适应能力;修改特征提取网络,提取多个尺度的特征信息,建立多尺度特征融合网络,提高模型对深层特征信息的利用率,提高小面积烧伤的识别精度。实验结果表明,BI-YOLOv5算法在检测并区分不同烧伤类别及环境干扰下烧伤检测有较高的精度和效率,mAP达到97.6,对比YOLOv5提升8.4个百分点。