HaCaT cell culture sheets were recently demonstrated to be a useful tool to study epidermal metabolism. Here we report on a mechanistic and quantitative correlation between the kinetics of aminopeptidase-based cleavage of L-Ala-4-methoxy-2-naphthylamide (Ala-MNA) in HaCaT sheets versus stripped human skin. Fresh human skin (breast or abdominal) was obtained from cosmetic surgery, tape-stripped, and dermatomed. HaCaT sheets were cultured on porous membranes. Diffusion and concurrent metabolism were studied under reflection and permeation conditions. Numerical simulations of simultaneous diffusion and saturable Michaelis-Menten metabolism were based on a physical model and a fixed set of independently obtained parameters (diffusion coefficient D, distance x, partition coefficient P, Michaelis constant Km, maximum metabolic rate Vmax). Under reflection conditions, cleavage of Ala-MNA in HaCaT sheets was very close to stripped skin. In contrast, in permeation studies substrate only permeated through HaCaT whereas passage through stripped skin led to full cleavage of Ala-MNA to MNA. All experimental data were in reasonable to excellent agreement with numerically generated data. Differences between HaCaT and stripped skin could be quantitatively and mechanistically explained by the thickness of the metabolically active layer, i.e., approximately 10 microm in HaCaT and approximately 40 microm in stripped skin. Full cleavage of permeating Ala-MNA in stripped skin was predicted to occur within the upper approximately 20 microm of viable epidermis. Thus epidermal aminopeptidase activity may act as an efficient metabolic barrier to fully block the permeation of aminopeptidase labile xenobiotics. Within the settings of this study the kinetics of metabolism in the viable epidermis of skin is predictable from HaCaT sheets.