The lipid organisation in the skin barrier

The main function of the skin is to protect the body against exogenous subs tances, The skin barrier is located in the outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, This layer consists of keratin enriched cells embedded in lipid lamellae, These lamellae form the main barrier for diffusion of subs tances through the skin. In diseased skin the barrier function is often imp aired. For a full understanding of the properties of the human skin barrier , insight in the stratum corneum lipid organisation is of great importance. In this paper a short description of the lipid organisation in normal huma n stratum corneum will be given, after which the role the main lipid classe s play in the stratum corneum lipid organisation will be described. In addi tion the effect of cholesterol sulfate and calcium on the Lipid organisatio n will be discussed. Finally a nem model, the "sandwich model", will be pro posed that describe the localisation of the fluid phases in the stratum cor neum.