Category: News & Media

Skin rejuvenation

Topical Platelet Exosomes: New Strategy for Skin Rejuvenation

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News release, Skin Ageing & Challenges – 23 June 2022

Exosomes are regenerative mediators for skin rejuvenation. In the context of aesthetic medicine, platelets are an ideal source for exosomal isolation given their role in skin healing. Human platelet extract (HPE) is an allogeneic exosome product derived from US-sourced, leukocyte-reduced apheresed platelets with consistent purity and potency.

This recent study aimed to better characterize the safety and tolerability of novel human platelet extract (plated) Intensive Repair Serum, and its maximal effects on skin rejuvenation at 6 weeks. Structured sub-analysis evaluated multifactorial improvement in skin health following standardized skin care regimen to determine the maximal effect. Evaluation at baseline and 6-weeks included subject questionnaires and photodocumentation.

The results showed quantifiable and statistically significant improvements in overall skin health (“Skin Health Score” or SHS). A greater score correlated to greater overall skin health and there was a statistically significant mean delta improvement in SHS at 6-weeks compared to baseline. This correlated to reduction in redness, wrinkles, and melanin production across all cosmetic units and significant improvements in luminosity and color evenness.

The authors concluded that a topically applied platelet-derived exosome product, human platelet extract, induced normalization to skin health at 4-6 weeks with improved various clinical measures of facial photodamage and cutaneous aging. It is safe, well-tolerated, and well-liked by subjects.

A special session on Exosomes, Extracellular Vesicles and Skin Ageing will be covered during Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022 congress this November. 

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Flavonoids: Skin Senescence Prevention & Treatment

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News release, Skin Ageing & Challenges – 21 June 2022

Skin aging is associated with the accumulation of senescent cells and is related to many pathological changes, including decreased protection against pathogens, increased susceptibility to irritation, delayed wound healing, and increased cancer susceptibility.

Senescent cells secrete a specific set of pro-inflammatory mediators, referred to as a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which can cause profound changes in tissue structure and function. Thus, drugs that selectively eliminate senescent cells (senolytics) or neutralize SASP (senostatics) represent an attractive therapeutic strategy for age-associated skin deterioration.

Flavonoids, can slow down or even prevent aging-associated deterioration of skin appearance and function by targeting cellular pathways crucial for regulating cellular senescence and SASP.

This insightful review by Domaszewska-Szostek et. al summarizes the senostatic and senolytic potential of flavonoids in the context of preventing skin aging.

Join the Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022 Congress to get introduced to the latest technologies that help prevent skin ageing. 

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Skin Ageing

Skin Cells Made Up To 40 Years Younger with New “Rejuvenation” Technique

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Aging is the gradual decline in cell and tissue function over time. It is characterized by various factors, including telomere attrition, genetic instability, and misfolded proteins.

The progression of some age-related changes can be measured and used to predict age in humans.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) reprogramming is a process in which any cell can be converted into an embryonic stem cell-like state. Embryonic stem cells can be made into any cell. iPSC can thus reverse age-associated changes, including telomere attrition and oxidative stress.

An early form of the technique was famously used on “Dolly” the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell in 1996.

iPSC reprogramming, however, results in a loss of original cell identity and function. Research suggests that short-term iPSC approaches may preserve cell identity and reverse age-related changes in mice.

Understanding whether a partial iPSC reprogramming approach could rejuvenate human cells could help researchers develop new treatments for age-related conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and neurological disorders.

Researchers applied a partial iPSC technique to middle-aged skin cells in a recent study.

According to molecular measures, they found that the cells became up to 40 years younger, including DNA methylation clocks and transcriptomes.

“We have shown that using this technique, we can, in the lab, rejuvenate cells,” Ines Milagre, Ph.D., from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, Portugal, one of the study’s authors, told Medical News Today.

“These cells seem to be more like younger cells, at least partially, in the functions we tested, such as collagen production and in wound healing assays,” she added.

“Here the authors claim that if they try to make iPSCs from skin, but stop the process partway along the way, they get skin cells with properties similar to skin cells from much younger people,” David J. Cutler, Ph.D., professor of human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, told MNT.

“Such an astonishing claim requires far more evidence than presented here,” he added.

The study was published in eLife.

Rejuvenating skin cells
 
The researchers introduced viral vectors to skin cells from three donors epigenetically aged 45, 49, and 55 years for the study. The viral vectors forced the expression of four proteins known as Yamanaka factors that can induce stem cell formation.

However, rather than exposing the cells to the viral vectors for the 50 days needed for complete cellular reprogramming, they removed the cells after 10, 13, 15, or 17 days.

When measuring the cells’ DNA methylation age, they found that 10 days of exposure reduced cellular age by 20 years and 17 days of exposure by 40 years.

They reported similar results from other cellular measures.

They also found that other epigenetic clocks may rejuvenate later in the reprogramming process, suggesting that cellular rejuvenation occurs in stages.

They further noted that after 17 days, cells would likely enter a “stabilization phase” in which they would no longer retain their original identity.

Future directions

When asked how these findings may contribute toward treating age-related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and neurological disorders, Dr. Cutler said:

“This research is far too preliminary and a bit too unlikely, to take particularly seriously at this stage. iPSC research is some of the most important going on in the medical field. If these techniques really do work and are generalizable, they could simplify the process of getting new ‘cells’ to give back to a patient.”

The researchers’ next aim is to see if the technology may also work on other tissues such as muscle, liver, and blood cells.

They ultimately hope that their findings will contribute to efforts to extend the human healthspan—as opposed to life span—so people can age more healthily.

Join Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022 congress this November to learn more about recent advances in extending healthspan and many more.

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Pomegranate Against UVB-induced Erythema

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News release, Skin Ageing & Challenges – 21 March 2022, Valencia – Spain

In vitro and animal studies have demonstrated that topical application and oral consumption of pomegranate reduces UVB-induced skin damage.

A study investigated if oral pomegranate consumption will reduce photodamage from UVB irradiation and alter the composition of the skin microbiota in a randomized controlled, parallel, three-arm, open label study.

Seventy-four female participants (30-45 years) with Fitzpatrick skin type II-IV were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to 1000 mg of pomegranate extract (PomX), 8 oz of pomegranate juice (PomJ) or placebo for 12 weeks.

Interestingly, minimal erythema dose (MED) and melanin index were determined using a cutometer (mexameter probe). Skin microbiota was determined using 16S rRNA sequencing.

The MED was significantly increased in the PomX and PomJ group compared to placebo. There was no significant difference on phylum, but on family and genus level bacterial composition of skin samples collected at baseline and after 12 week intervention showed significant differences between PomJ, PomX and placebo.

Members of the Methylobacteriaceae family contain pigments absorbing UV irradiation and might contribute to UVB skin protection. However, they were not able to establish a direct correlation between increased MED and bacterial abundance.

In summary, daily oral pomegranate consumption may lead to enhanced protection from UV photodamage.

Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022 will introduce you to the benefits of different polyphenolic compounds on the skin microbiome and the skin. Remember to reserve your spot.

You can access the full article here.

© Image – Racool_studio, freepik

User Friendly Electronic Skin

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News Release, Skin Aging & Challenges – March 14, 2022

Engineers have been developing robots that can be controlled remotely by a human operator, but, as the researchers note, most such systems are bulky and difficult to control.  In this new effort, the researchers in China sought to develop a more user-friendly system. To that end, they created what they call an electronic skin, a flexible skin patch that can be applied to the skin of a human controller that captures both movement and stress factors such as twisting and turning, TechXplore reported.

The patch has sensors for reading information from its own sensors, wireless transmitters to send the information it is receiving, and small, vibrating magnets that assist with haptic feedback. Groups of patches are placed on the skin of an operator at important junctures such as the fold on the front of the arm over the elbow. Some of the sensors in the patch consist of wires placed in a zigzag fashion, which are pulled straighter as the patch is bent, providing information about body movement—bending an arm at the elbow, for example, or releasing it.

All of the combined data from the patches allow an operator to control a remote robot without having to wear clumsy gear. But there is more to the system: The patches are also applied to parts of the robot to allow the operator to receive feedback. Putting patches on the robot’s fingertips, for example, would allow the operator to feel the hardness of an object held by the robot, courtesy of the tiny vibrating magnets.

With the use of Bluetooth, the feedback signals are delivered in an impressive four microseconds, with that figure increasing manifold when operating through a Wi-Fi network, according to the article. However, regardless of how the data is transmitted, the delay is below the 550 microseconds an average human takes to react to tactile stimuli anyway.

The device’s battery allows for more than an hour of non-stop work, while in standby mode it can last for up to two weeks.

Although still a prototype, the system could come in handy down the road, with bomb disposal and radioactive waste cleanup being just some of the areas where robotic assistance would likely be appreciated.

Join us in Skin Aging & Challenges 2022 and get introduced to the most recent mind blowing electronic skin creations.

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Targeting Microbiota Dysbiosis: A Huge Challenge

Targeting Microbiota Dysbiosis: A Huge Challenge

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News Release, Skin Aging & Challenges – March 9, 2022

Members of the International Society of Microbiota, headed by Prof. Marvin Edeas (Institut Cochin- Unviersité de Paris), joined forces to clarify the strategic role of microbiota.

 

In this review, published in the Journal of Translational Medicine, the authors covered the key role and implication of microbiota in human health, going from human microbiome and microbiota dysbiosis in human diseases, to the therapeutic strategies in the gut microbiota manipulation.

In fact, gut microbiota is tightly related to  human evolution and host gastrointestinal microenvironment. Therefore, it is , which makes it easily altered by many endogen and external factors, like the built environment microbiome.

Host organs and gut microbiota communicate in a multidirectional way, maintaining a global homeostasis. Among these flora-organ interactions: gut-lung, gut-brain, gut-skin axes, and many others. Any microbial dysbiosis could lead to an increased risk of pathogenesis of many diseases. 

The authors highlighted that skin pathologies are not only due to skin microbiota dysbiosis, but they are also accompanied with alterations within the gut microbiome. In fact, both the intestinal tract and skin are densely vascularized and extensively inhabited by a wide variety of microorganisms that play many roles in maintaining the homeostasis. Different studies demonstrated a bidirectional cross-talk between skin and gut microbiota, referred to as the gut-skin-microbiota axis. This intimate connection, if altered, was shown to be associated with many skin diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and other disorders including skin cancer.

In the therapeutic context, targeting specific microbial components or metabolites could provide a tool in the treatment of many diseases. Beyond having the pre- or probiotics, which are the traditional and first line choice of microbial therapies, other strategies are being clinically studied such as the FMT, metabolites, phages and miRNAs.

Despite all the existing limitations and the discrepancies, targeting the microbiota opens a new therapeutic window for many serious metabolic and neurological disorders, and needs to receive better attention in research due to the hope it provides to many patients.

The medicine of tomorrow will come through microbiota. 

Prof. Marvin Edeas (Institut Cochin, INSERM – Université de Paris) stated “I confirm again that the future of medicine is strongly related to the quality of our microbiota. Targeting microbiota dysbiosis will be a huge challenge. My main challenge today is to target mitochondria and microbiota together.”

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The Relationship between the Microbiome and Aging

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News Release, Skin Aging & Challenges – February 22, 2022

The human skin microbiome, a complex ecosystem made up of bacteria, archaea, fungus, and viruses, is influenced by and influences the host’s skin.

Hye-Jin Kim examined differences in the skin microbiome of two separate age groups to find key microbial and skin physiological indicators associated with aging. We recruited healthy Korean women 19–28 years old (Y-group) and 60–63 years old (O-group) and evaluated their cheek and forehead skin microbiome, including bacteria and fungi. The microbiome was significantly different by age group, with bacterial and fungal communities displaying higher alpha-diversity in the O-group than in the Y-group.

The Authors identified amplicon sequence variants affiliated with Cutibacterium and Lactobacillus and fungi Malassezia restricta as microbial biomarkers showing significant differences between the Y and O-group. There are more microbial communities and metabolic processes related to skin health in the Y-group than in the O-group, and there are more microbial interactions to increase the stability of the network structure of the skin.

Skin physical metadata, including transepidermal water loss and sebum content, differed by two age groups. The crucial skin microbes, skin physical parameters, and microbial network found through this research will be useful key indicators in associating skin aging and skin microbiome research.

We will be discussing the prevention of skin aging and many more topics during the 13th International Congress on Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022.

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Do Looks Matter? Attractiveness As Sign of Good Health

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News Release, Skin Aging & Challenges – February 22, 2022

Novel research performed by Mengelkoch et. al at Texas Christian University revealed that there is a complex, often sex-differentiated relationships between immune function, health, and attractiveness.

The study suggests a link between attractiveness and immune function to be more closely tied to a target’s ability to avoid bacterial rather than viral threats. In more details, study results revealed that attractive targets had high rates of phagocytosis, and low neutrophil counts, demonstrating that attractiveness may be related to one’s immunological efficiency in the face of bacterial threats.

Interestingly, sex-differentiated relationships investigations showed that women perceived male targets with high-functioning NK cells as being more attractive than those with low-functioning NK cells, revealing that women prefer men who are well equipped to efficiently combat viral threats and neoplastic growth.

On the other hand, men fond women with high-functioning NK cells to be less attractive than women with low-functioning NK cells, most probably because NK cell function is lower in the context of high estrogen levels.

In conclusion, facial attractiveness may provide insights into one’s immune function, particularly as it relates to one’s ability to efficiently combat (primarily) bacterial threats. Additionally, for men, facial attractiveness may also provide cues to their ability to efficiently manage viral threats and neoplastic growth. Overall, a relationship between facial attractiveness and immune function is likely to exist.

We will be discussing this topic and many more topics during the 13th International Congress on Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022.

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New Drug Molecules Could Prevent Skin Aging Caused by Sun Exposure

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Sunburn is a major cause of premature aging in skin, and a primary risk factor for skin cancer, and other skin problems associated with aging. Ultraviolet radiation (UVA) is the part of natural sunlight which damages unprotected skin and can penetrate through windows, and even through some clothes. It causes skin to age prematurely by turning on skin digesting enzymes called collagenases causing the skin to lose elasticity and sag, resulting in wrinkles. UVA also penetrates deeper into skin than the UV radiation that causes sunburns (UVB)-, and it damages cellular DNA, leading to mutations that can contribute to some skin cancers. Classic sun creams people use on holiday sit on top of the skin and absorb UV radiation, but they do not penetrate the skin where the long-lasting damage occurs.

Two new AP39 and AP123 molecules that generate minute amounts of the gas hydrogen sulfide have been found to prevent skin from aging after being exposed to ultraviolet light found in sunlight. In the experiments, the compounds did not protect the skin in the same way traditional sun creams prevent sunburn, but instead penetrated the skin to correct how skin cells’ energy production and usage was turned off by UVA exposure. This then prevented the activation of skin-degrading collagenase enzymes and subsequent skin damage.

The compounds used in this study were previously shown to have impressive effects in reducing skin inflammation and skin damage after burn injury and atopic dermatitis (eczema). In an anti-aging context, they prevented human skin cells in test tube experiments from aging, but this is the first time the effects of photo-aging have been seen in animals.

Panich et. al said: “The compounds AP39 and AP123 specifically target the energy generating machinery inside our cells, the mitochondria, and supply them with minute quantities of alternative fuel, hydrogen sulfide, to use when skin cells are stressed by UVA. The direct result of this was the activation of two protective mechanisms. One is a protein call PGC-1α, which controls mitochondria number inside cells and regulates energy balance. The other is Nrf2, which turns on a set of protective genes that mitigate UVA damage to skin and turn off the production of collagenase, the main enzyme that breaks down collagen in damaged skin tissue and causes skin to look significantly more “aged”.”

Whiteman et. al added: “Some skin sun creams and cosmetics contain ingredients thought to protect mitochondria from UV radiation. However, it isn’t clear that these cosmetic skin-applied substances get inside skin cells at all, whereas we found that our molecules penetrate cells and specifically target mitochondria, preserve and upregulate the protective mechanisms by which mitochondria control inflammation, protect cells and prevent tissue destruction. Our results are a really exciting step towards that goal, and could one day help reduce age-related skin conditions, as well as be useful in other conditions resulting from the aging process.”

The important observation noted was the compounds only regulated energy production, PGC-1α and Nrf2 in skin that was exposed to UVA. This suggests a novel approach to treating skin that has already been damaged by UV radiation, and could potentially reverse, as well as limit, that damage.

We will be discussing the prevention of skin aging caused by sun exposure and many more topics during the 13th International Congress on Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022.

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A high-fiber diet may improve the response of melanoma patients to immunotherapy

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A diet rich in fiber may help some people being treated for melanoma respond to immunotherapy treatment by influencing the gut microbiome, according to a new study led by researchers at the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results from the study, which analyzed both people with melanoma and mouse models of the disease, appear in Science.

Among patients with advanced melanoma who underwent immunotherapy with immune checkpoint blockers, those who consumed at least 20 grams a day of dietary fiber survived the longest without their disease progressing. In contrast, use of probiotic supplements appeared to lessen somewhat the effectiveness of immune checkpoint blocker regimens. Probiotics are live microorganisms typically consumed as a supplement to improve gut health.

“The data suggest that one can target the composition of the gut microbiota and affect the ability of the patient to respond to immunotherapy,” said Giorgio Trinchieri, M.D., chief of the Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, one of the study’s coleaders. “Consuming a diet rich in fiber, like fruits, vegetables, and legumes, could improve your ability to respond to immunotherapy.”

Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint blockers helps restore the immune system’s natural ability to recognize and kill tumor cells. These drugs have been transformative in melanoma, improving how long some people with advanced disease live, sometimes by years. However, for many patients, immune checkpoint blockers fail to stop their tumors from growing. Several studies have suggested that the composition of the bacteria in the gut may influence the response to immunotherapy.

“The question is, can we change the composition of the type of bacteria in the gut and improve the ability of the patient to respond?” Dr. Trinchieri said.

In a previous study, Dr. Trinchieri and a different group of collaborators showed that some people with melanoma who initially did not respond to treatment with an immune checkpoint blocker did respond after receiving a fecal transplant from a patient who had responded to the drug. The fecal transplant, they concluded, had introduced different gut bacteria that helped make it easier for immune cells to invade and kill their tumors.

“Dietary fiber intake and use of probiotic supplements have also been shown to affect the composition of gut bacteria. More cancer patients are taking probiotic supplements in an effort to improve their gut health, but little is known about how probiotics—which basically change the ecology of the gut bacteria—impact immunotherapy response,” he said.

The connection between fiber intake and immunotherapy response has also been unclear. However, a recent study led by Romina Goldszmid, Ph.D., also of NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, showed that mice fed a diet rich in pectin, which is a fiber abundant in apples, were able to stave off tumor growth by activating immune cells and reprogramming the tumor microenvironment.

Continue reading the findings here.

We will be discussing the impact of high-fiber diet on melanoma and many more topics during the 13th international Congress on Skin Ageing & Challenges 2022. For more information: https://skin-challenges.com/

Article Source: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz7015
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