Structural Change of Human Stratum Corneum by the Treatment of Surfactant Solutions Studied using Neutron Scattering

Abstract

Surfactant used in skin cleanser sometimes induces swelling of skin stratum corneum (SC), which is accompanied by the structural changes of soft keratin in the corneocytes. The aim of this research is to study the conformation change of human SC, particularly the soft keratin conformation, induced by the treatment of surfactant solutions using scattering analysis. In this article, we describe the neutron scattering of the human SC treated with surfactant solutions at the TAIKAN in J-PARK MLF. A contrast matching technique was employed which enabled us to remove the scattering from surfactant micelles in the solution and observe the detailed scattering profiles of soft keratin fine structures.