A novel peptide 'T14' reflects age and photo-aging in human skin.

T14 is a 14mer peptide derived from the C-terminus of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Once cleaved, it is independently bioactive of the parent molecule and enhances calcium influx in different cell types, in a range of scenarios: it binds to an allosteric site selectively on the alpha-7 receptor, where it modulates calcium influx and is thus a potential trophic agent, as already reported in a range of normal developmental scenarios. However, if inappropriately activated, this erstwhile beneficial effect converts to a toxic one, resulting in pathologies as disparate as Alzheimer's and various metastatic cancers.

Tight Junction barriers in human hair follicles - role of claudin-1.

Barrier function of hair follicles (HFs) is of great interest because they might be an entry port for allergens/pathogens, but could on the other hand be used for drug delivery or vaccination. Therefore we investigated tight junction (TJ) barrier function in human HFs. We show that there is a TJ barrier in the outermost living layer bordering to the environment from the infundibulum to the lower central part and between Henle's and Huxles layer of anagen HFs.

Organic/inorganic hybrid composites from cubic silsesquioxanes.

A new class of epoxy nanocomposites with completely defined organic/inorganic phases was prepared by reacting octakis(glycidyldimethylsiloxy)octasilsesquioxane [(glydicylMe(2)SiOSiO(1.5))(8)] (OG) with diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) at various compositional ratios. The effects of reaction curing conditions on nanostructural organization and mechanical properties were explored.