Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, UK.
Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2019 Jan 17;21(3):1471-1477. doi: 10.1039/c8cp05706k.
The skin surface, our first barrier against the external environment, is covered by the sebum oil, a lipid film composed of sebaceous and epidermal lipids, which is important in the regulation of the hydration level of our skin. Here, we investigate the pathways leading to the transfer of epidermal lipids from the skin lipid bilayer to the sebum. We show that the sebum triglycerides, a major component of sebum, interact strongly with the epidermal lipids and extract them from the bilayer. Using microsecond time scale molecular dynamics simulations, we identify and quantify the free energy associated with the skin lipid extraction process.
皮肤表面是我们抵御外界环境的第一道屏障，它被皮脂油覆盖，皮脂油是由皮脂和表皮脂质组成的脂质膜，对调节皮肤的水分水平很重要。在这里，我们研究了导致表皮脂质从皮肤脂质双层转移到皮脂的途径。我们表明，皮脂中的主要成分——皮脂三酸甘油酯与表皮脂质强烈相互作用，并从双层中提取它们。我们使用微秒时间尺度的分子动力学模拟，确定并量化了与皮肤脂质提取过程相关的自由能。
