TAGS: Skin Care
Shiseido discovers that age-related inflammatory factors (IL-8) damage epidermal stem cells and accelerate cell aging. IL-8 is a type of waste product collected by lymphatic vessels in the skin.
IL-8 Affects Barrier Function of the Skin
It has been known that the age-related decrease of lymphatic vessels causes deterioration in the collection of waste product, resulting in the accumulation of inflammatory factors in the skin, but it was unclear that how such accumulated inflammatory factors affect epidermal stem cells. Shiseido has now revealed that one inflammatory factor (IL-8) causes damage to epidermal stem cells and affects the barrier function of the skin.
Shiseido examined the colony-forming ability, which is an index of the self-replication of epidermal stem cells. The researchers cultured IL-8 in the culture medium and compared the number of colonies formed. As a result, it was found that colony-forming (cell rejuvenation ability) deteriorates significantly in the group with IL-8.
Factors Damage Epidermal Stem Cells
Then, the researchers examined the expression level of the Lrig1 gene, which is a marker for epidermal stem cells, and found that the gene expression level was significantly reduced when IL-8 was added, suggesting a loss in the stem characteristics of epidermal stem cells.
Shiseido conducted an experiment to selectively stain senescent cells (β-galactosidase staining) in order to verify the effect of IL-8 on cellular senescence. As a result, it was found that the addition of inflammatory factors to epidermal cells increases senescent cells.
After adding an inflammatory factor (IL-8) to the skin model and culturing it for five days, the researchers confirmed that there was a decrease in the expression of bleomycin hydrolase (NMF-producing enzyme), which maintains the skin barrier function, suggesting that IL-8 deteriorates the barrier function of the skin.
The research findings will lead to the development of a new skincare approach that focuses on the functions of lymphatic vessels to care for epidermal stem cells, which play an important role in the rejuvenation of skin cells.
Source: Shiseido