Taurine improves epidermal barrier properties stressed by surfactants-a role for osmolytes in barrier homeostasis.

Epidermal barrier function to water loss is maintained by lipid membrane domains located in the interstices of the stratum corneum. Exposure of the epidermis to a dry environment or UV irradiation stimulates barrier lipid synthesis and accumulation of the organic osmolyte taurine in the outermost granular keratinocyte layer. In this work we studied a possible relationship between these two different epidermal responses to environmental challenges.