Intercellular lipids of stratum corneum and their physilogical roles

Abstract

This paper describes the recent advances of researches on the intercellular lipids of stratum corneum and their physiological roles. The intercellular lipids, which contain ceramides, cholesterol, free fatty acids, triglycerides and cholesteryl sulfate, play the important roles such as the water permeation barrier, water retention properties and cohesion-dishesion mechanism. The further investigations on the intercellular lipids in detail should be expected.