2015 Volume 15 Issue 11 Pages 503-510
The skin stratum corneum (SC) is an intelligent interface with a thickness of only ~10 μm, preventing microbes and foreign substances from invading into our body as well as regulating the wa ter loss. Although the mechanism of the substance permeation through the SC has been intensively studied, it is still not conclusive. Here, we introduce some methods developed in our laboratory to clarify the relationship between the substance permeation and the SC structure. In order to analyze the minute structures of the SC collected non-invasively from the human skin, we developed a simple method for ultrathin cryo-section and a low-flux electron diffraction method for analysis of molecular packing in the intercellular lipid layer. In addition, we explain about the simultaneous measurement of the structure and the substance permeation by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and the experiment using artificial lipid membranes whose components can be easily controlled.
