Purple tulip extract improves signs of skin aging through dermal structural modulation as shown by genomic, protein expression and skin appearance of volunteers studied.

Background: Purple tulip extract is a rich source of flavonoids which are powerful antioxidants and can hence be considered as an ideal candidate for use in skin care products.

Aims: We aimed to evaluate the effects of purple tulip extract on skin quality and to determine its molecular modes of interaction.

Methods: A pangenomic study on human skin fibroblasts was carried out to analyze multiple changes in gene expression.

Efficacy of an agonist of α-MSH, the palmitoyl tetrapeptide-20, in hair pigmentation.

Objective: Hair greying (i.e., canities) is a component of chronological ageing and occurs regardless of gender or ethnicity.

The regulatory role of the tetrapeptide AcSDKP in skin and hair physiology and the prevention of ageing effects in these tissues--a potential cosmetic role.

The naturally occurring tetrapeptide acetyl-N-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro (AcSDKP) recognized as a potent angiogenic factor was shown recently to contribute to the repair of cutaneous injuries. In the current article, we report the ability of AcSDKP to exert a beneficial effect on normal healthy skin and scalp and to compensate for the ageing process. In vitro AcSDKP at 10⁻¹¹-10⁻⁷ M significantly stimulates the growth of human keratinocytes, fibroblasts and follicle dermal papilla cells.

A study of the antigenicity of Rickettsia helvetica proteins using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

Rickettsia helvetica is an obligate intracellular Gram-negative microorganism found in Ixodes ricinus ticks. When R. helvetica was first discovered in 1979, little was known about its physiology and it fell into oblivion until it recently was suspected of being pathogenic to humans.

Overexpression of the angiogenic tetrapeptide AcSDKP in human malignant tumors.

Background: The natural tetrapeptide acetyl-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro (AcSDKP), generated from thymosin beta4 following its cleavage by prolyl oligopeptidase (POP), is a physiological stimulator of angiogenesis. Because of the critical role of neovascularisation in tumor development, the expression of AcSDKP and the activity of POP were examined in different human solid malignancies.

Materials And Methods: The expression of AcSDKP and the activity of POP were evaluated in human blood samples and tissue specimens of thyroid goiter and thyroid papillary carcinoma as well as in commercial cancer tissue microarray.