Skin lipid organization, composition and barrier function

Citation: IFSCC Magazine, 10 (2007) (4) 297–307 The primary function of the skin is to act as a barrier against unwanted influences from the environment and to protect the body from water loss. The barrier function of the skin is located in the superficial layer of the skin, the stratum corneum. The stratum corneum consists of dead cells filled with keratin and water, the corneocytes, embedded in lipid regions. As the lipid regions are the only continuous structure in the stratum corneum, they are considered to be very important for the skin barrier function. The main lipid classes are ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids. In this paper the lipid organization in human stratum corneum is reviewed. In addition, the role the various lipid classes play in lipid organization is discussed using mixtures prepared from either native human ceramides or synthetic ceramides. Finally, a model is described which allows study of the relation between lipid composition, organization and barrier function. This model is referred to as the stratum corneum substitute. Keywords: ceramides, FTIR, lipid organization, stratum corneum, X-ray diffraction