Changes of skin collagen orientation associated with chronological aging as probed by polarized-FTIR micro-imaging

Analyst. 2014 May 21;139(10):2482-8. doi: 10.1039/c3an00353a.

Abstract

During chronological skin aging, alterations in dermal structural proteins cause morphological modifications. Modifications are probably due to collagen fiber (type I collagen) rearrangement and reorientation with aging that have not been researched until now. FTIR microspectroscopy appears as an interesting method to study protein structure under normal and pathological conditions. Associated with a polarizer, this vibrational technique permits us to probe collagen orientation within skin tissue sections, by computing the ratio of integrated intensities of amide I and amide II bands. In this study, we used the polarized-FTIR imaging to evaluate molecular modifications of dermal collagen during chronological aging. The data processing of polarized infrared data revealed that type I collagen fibers become parallel to the skin surface in aged skin dermis. Our approach could find innovative applications in dermatology as well as in cosmetics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Collagen / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Rats
  • Skin / metabolism*
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / methods*

Substances

  • Collagen