A NOVEL-APPROACH TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN SKIN BARRIER FUNCTION

The basis for externally caused skin disorders is penetration of the s kin barrier. A recent model for the skin barrier, the domain mosaic mo del, based on current knowledge of the physics of lipid bilayer organi zation gave tentative explanations for several aspects of function. It is demonstrated here that a development of the model explains how the requirements are met for a water-tight structure that will still allo w a controlled, minute loss of water, the pepspiratio insensibilis, ne cessary for maintaining plasticity of the keratin. A major advantage o f the extended model is that it allows an interpretation of the change s imposed on the structure when in contact with detergents and/or pene tration enhancers. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.