Let’s find out why our skin is worn down every day, but body fluids cannot leak through the skin.
We know that, every day, the body sheds up to 500 million dead skin cells and about 1 liter of sweat.
The question is, the skin is “eroded” every day, but why does the skin not puncture or leak body fluids?
The mammalian epidermis has 2 physical membranes in the top 2 layers of the epidermis.
Finally scientists have an answer to this. Accordingly, the skin is formed by the arrangement and shaping of tetrakaidecahedrons . Tetrakaidecahedrons will have the job of leaving no gaps even when individual cells on the skin are sloughed off.
To reach this conclusion, Reiko Tanaka of Imperial College London and colleagues studied the different layers that make up the mammalian epidermis. The study found that the mammalian epidermis has two physical membranes in the top two layers of the epidermis.
The basic shape of a tetrakaidecahedrons.
The main surface part is a liquid air barrier made up of the outermost layer of the skin, also known as the stratum corneum . The process of keratinization begins, the cells will produce small granules, which move upward, transforming into keratin and epidermal lipids. This layer is called the granulosum layer.
The layer of granulosum is very important to ensure our skin does not leak, because it is the layer from which the tight junction is formed. The outermost layer of the skin cannot form without the granulosum layer.
In mammals, in order to eliminate the outermost layer of skin, new skin cells must be continuously produced in the lowest layer of the epidermis before moving into the granulosum. Here they replace old skin cells, and push them to the outermost layer to wait for elimination.
Tanaka and team used isotope microscopy to examine granulosum cells in the ears of mice and found that this cell shape is really important for the membranes they form.
In the mouse experiment, the mammalian epidermis was similar, especially the deeper layers.
According to experts, corneocytes – the type of skin cells in the outermost layer of the epidermis in humans are more diverse than in mice. The tetrakaidecahedron model still applies and can make a big difference in the study of human skin conditions.
The skin of the hands is peeling.
Reiko Tanaka of Imperial College London said: “This study tells us whether the cells that make up the skin can switch to a mechanism to perform the role of the glue that holds cells together.”
Through this, the team also better understand how the mammalian epithelium works, thereby explaining the root cause of chronic skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis …
Now the research team plans to determine the thickness of the skin in the epidermis and how to balance the elimination and growth of skin cells to help identify the source of errors and possible problems.
The study is published in eLife.