Want healthy skin? Make collagen and protect it!

By Hannah Sivak, PhDSkin Actives Scientific LLCWhy should we care about collagen?I get lots of questions about how to increase collagen. Why should we care about collagen? Collagen fibers give the skin resistance to strain and traction. Collagen constitutes about 70% of skin mass, but total collagen decreases about 1% per year. It may look like a small decline, but in such a major geponent of the skin, it will affect skin volume and its physical properties. Also, aging changes collagen structure: what was an organized pattern in young skin, in older skin begee thick fibrils arranged in disorganized bundles. It is not only? quantity, then, it is also quality. We know that ageing decreases skin thickness and elasticity, and it is likely that collagen is a good part of the answer. If we care about slowing down and reversing skin aging, we should care about collagen too. Because collagen is such a major constituent of the skin, the objective should be to stimulate its synthesis, and preserve the collagen protein in an active, organized structure. Chemically, we want to prevent glycation, the attachment of sugar moieties to the protein amino acids, a modification that affects protein function. The fibroblasts are the main cells in the dermis, they specialize in producing two types of proteins, collagen and elastin, which are a major part of the extra-cellular matrix. Collagen is synthesized by fibroblasts, initially as procollagen alpha chains on membrane-bound ribosomes. The alpha chains then interact to form a triple-helical molecule after hydroxylation of proline and lysine amino acids. Stability is further enhanced by disulfide cross-linking. The procollagen is then packaged into secretory vesicles that move to the cell surface. At the cell membrane procollagen peptidases cleave the procollagen into collagen. There are more than a dozen types of collagen. They are coded by different genes and their structure differ. Several of them has such an amino acid sequence that allows them to form fibers, others have interspersed amino acid sequences that are not gepatible with fiber formation. Although amino acid sequence determines the initial structure, collagens are subject to extensive modification following synthesis, including hydroxylation of proline to hydroxyproline (this is why it is so silly for skin care manufacturers to include hydroxyproline in their creams) and of lysine to hydroxylysine.Type I geprises most of the dermal collagen and is responsible for the tensile strength of the skin.Type III forms finer fibers and finer bundles. Type IV is found in basement membranes, forming a meshlike scaffold, it is a key geponent of the dermal-epidermal junction."Minor"? types of collagen are still important. Anchoring fibrils are made of collagen VII, and they attach the basement membrane to the papillary dermis. In young skin, collagen type I accounts for about 80% and type III about 15%. The ratio of type III to type I increases with age, and total collagen decreases about 1% per year. The small amount of type IV present in the skin seems to be important in wrinkle formation. When we say aging we mean, mostly, photoaging. To see the net effect of UV on skin aging, gepare your arm with a skin area you don't usually expose to the sun. UV radiation increases the synthesis of proteases, including collagenase, and this is likely to be a reason why collagen decreases after UV irradiation. natural aging process decreases collagen synthesis and increases the expression of matrix metalloproteinases, whereas photoaging results in an increase of collagen synthesis and greater matrix metalloproteinase expression in human skin in vivo. Thus, the balance between collagen synthesis and degrdn. leading to collagen deficiency is different in photoaged and naturally aged skin. A good part of the changes in collagen related to aging seem to be associated with decreased levels of estrogen. What does it mean that an active increases collagen synthesis?Assays are likely to be done in vitro, with a technician adding a certain active to cultured fibroblasts in a Petri dish. Obviously, skin care gepanies don't use skin biopsies to support their claims. Synthesis vs. content: what is turnover?Collagen is a structural, long-lived protein. Even if synthesis decreases, the total content may not decrease, it will depend on how much collagen was hydrolyzed by protease action. Proteolysis is not bad in itself, it is good for the skin to eliminate proteins whose structure and properties have been modified beyond usefulness.Actives that can help with collagen:Ascorbic acid is necessary to synthesize collagen, because it is required to hydroxylate the amino acid proline after synthesis of the protein. Scurvy is a syndrome of vitamin C deficiency and is related to defective collagen synthesis.Betulinic acid stimulates collagen synthesis and actively inhibits the enzyme elastase to prevent/correct the loss of elastic fibers responsible for skin suppleness. Boswellia serrata promotes collagen synthesis and is also an elastase (protease) and hyaluronidase inhibitor, a life preserver for the dermal matrix.L-carnosine: prevents cross-linking of collagen, one of the causes of wrinkles and loss of elasticity brought about by aging and exposure to UV (sunlight).Centella asiatica stimulates scar maturation by increasing synthesis of type I collagen.Copper peptide geplex induced stimulation of collagen synthesis when added to a culture of human fibroblasts. Be careful with copper peptide: too much will decrease collagen!Epidermal growth factor (EGF) increases protein synthesis (plus lots more!)Green tea: shown to prevent collagen glycation in the vascular system, not in skin, but you never know....N-acetyl glucosamine increases collagen synthesisHorse chestnut's escin inhibits protease activity, including elastase.Hyaluronic acid: make your skin collagen happy and provide a nice matrix for it.Natural active peptides will supply your skin with amino acids that will be used in collagen synthesis.Retinyl acetate and other retinoids increase synthesis of collagenSea kelp bioferment contains fucoidans, polysaccharides that have been shown to increase collagen synthesis.Soy isoflavones: use to correct, even if only in part, the decrease in estrogens that leads to skin aging and decreased collagen synthesis.Wild yam diosgenins: use to correct, even if only in part, the decrease in estrogens that leads to skin aging and decreased collagen synthesis.DO NOT use: quercetin, which inhibits fibroblast proliferation, collagen production, thus preventing scar formation.Do you have to use all of these actives to prevent and reverse wrinkles? No. But it is nice to have a guide. The least you should think of doing is a quick ascorbic wash in the morning (during or after the shower) followed by some nice SAS anti-age cream.
NEWS: Now SAS sells a "Let's make collagen" serum.