Dill Extract Preserves Dermal Elastic Fiber Network and Functionality: Implication of Elafin.

Introduction: Elastic skin fibers lose their mechanical properties during aging due to enzymatic degradation, lack of maturation, or posttranslational modifications. Dill extract has been observed to increase elastin protein expression and maturation in a 3D skin model, to improve mechanical properties of the skin, to increase elastin protein expression in vascular smooth muscle cells, to preserve aortic elastic lamella, and to prevent glycation.

Objective: The aim of the study was to highlight dill actions on elastin fibers during aging thanks to elastase digestion model and the underlying mechanism.

Silencing Recapitulates Hypoxic Conditions and Induces Elastic Fiber Impairment in Human Dermal Fibroblasts.

Most chronic wounds are characterized by varying degrees of hypoxia and low partial pressures of O that may favor the development of the wound and/or delay healing. However, most studies regarding extracellular matrix remodeling in wound healing are conducted under normoxic conditions. Here, we investigated the consequences of hypoxia on elastic network formation, both in a mouse model of pressure-induced hypoxic ulcer and in human primary fibroblasts cultured under hypoxic conditions.

Dill Extract Induces Elastic Fiber Neosynthesis and Functional Improvement in the Ascending Aorta of Aged Mice with Reversal of Age-Dependent Cardiac Hypertrophy and Involvement of Lysyl Oxidase-Like-1.

Elastic fibers (90% elastin, 10% fibrillin-rich microfibrils) are synthesized only in early life and adolescence mainly by the vascular smooth muscle cells through the cross-linking of its soluble precursor, tropoelastin. Elastic fibers endow the large elastic arteries with resilience and elasticity. Normal vascular aging is associated with arterial remodeling and stiffening, especially due to the end of production and degradation of elastic fibers, leading to altered cardiovascular function.

A single-chip integrated transceiver for high field NMR magnetometry.

We present the design and performance of a broad-band single-chip integrated transceiver specifically conceived for nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometry. The single-chip transceiver is realized using a standard silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integrated circuit technology. A radio-frequency (RF) transmit amplifier, a transmit/receive switch, a low noise RF receive amplifier, a quadrature (IQ)-mixer, and two intermediate frequency amplifiers are integrated on a single silicon chip of 1.

In vitro epidermis model mimicking IGF-1-specific age-related decline.

Ageing is a complex multifaceted process affecting skin functionality and structure. Several 3D organotypic skin culture models have reproduced ageing by inducing replicative senescence, glycation or oxidative stress. Yet, very few models have focused on hormonal ageing and especially the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signalling pathway, which has been associated with longevity in animal studies and is necessary for the early stages of skin development.

Methylation of LOXL1 Promoter by DNMT3A in Aged Human Skin Fibroblasts.

Lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) is an amino-oxidase involved in maturation of elastic fibers. Its downregulation has been associated with elastic fibers repair loss in aging aorta, lung, ligament, and skin. Several evidences of LOXL1 epigenetic silencing by promoter methylation were reported in cancer and cutis laxa syndrome.

Effect of ageing on tactile transduction processes.

With advancing age, a decline in the main sensory modalities including touch sensation and perception is well reported to occur. This review mainly outlines the peripheral components of touch perception highlighting ageing influences on morphological and functional features of cutaneous mechanical transducers and mechanosensitive ion channels, sensory innervation, neurotransmitters and even vascular system required to ensure efferent function of the afferent nerve fibres in the skin. This, in conjunction with effect of ageing on the skin per se and central nervous system, could explain the tactile deficit seen among the ageing population.

Skin microvascular response to pressure load in obese mice.

Purpose: The role of obesity in the appearance of skin pressure ulcers remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to evaluate blood perfusion and related lesions after skin compression in obese mice.

Methods: Sixty C57BL6 male mice were randomly assigned to a control or hypercalorific diet (HCD) for 2, 4 and 12weeks.

Biosynthetic support based on dendritic poly(L-lysine) improves human skin fibroblasts attachment.

Poly(L-lysine) (PLL) dendrigrafts (DGLs) are arborescent biosynthetic polymers of regular and controlled structures. They have specific properties such as biocompatibility and non-immunogenicity, and their surface density of NH2 functions can be easily modified and therefore appears as a powerful tool for the functionalization of hydrophobic polymers used in the context of tissue engineering. In this study, we evaluated several criteria of human skin fibroblasts when cultured with DGL of generations 2, 3 and 4, with linear PLL polymer as reference.

Heparan sulfate affects elastin deposition in fibroblasts cultured from donors of different ages.

Heparan sulfate (HS), due to its presence on the cell surface and in the extracellular milieu and its ability to modulate cell signaling, has a fundamental role in both physiological and pathological conditions. For decades we have demonstrated the occurrence of interactions between glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and elastic fibers. In particular, we have recently shown that HS is present inside elastic fibers and plays a role in the assembly and stability of elastin coacervates.

The HIF-1-inducible lysyl oxidase activates HIF-1 via the Akt pathway in a positive regulation loop and synergizes with HIF-1 in promoting tumor cell growth.

Adaptation to hypoxia is a driving force for tumor progression that leads to therapy resistance and poor clinical outcome. Hypoxic responses are mainly mediated by hypoxia-inducible transcription factor-1 (HIF-1). One critical HIF-1 target mediating tumor progression is lysyl oxidase (LOX), which catalyzes cross-linking of collagens and elastin in the extracellular matrix, thereby regulating tissue tensile strength.

Lysyl oxidase silencing impairs keratinocyte differentiation in a reconstructed-epidermis model.

Lysyl Oxidase (LOX) is an extracellular enzyme involved in the maturation of connective tissues. It also acts in many cell types as a regulator of cell behaviour and phenotype through intracellular signalling pathways. Recently, LOX was shown to be present in human epidermis where its precise functions remain unclear.

Epigenetic silencing of lysyl oxidase-like-1 through DNA hypermethylation in an autosomal recessive cutis laxa case.

We have recently reported a case of cutis laxa caused by a fibulin-5 missense mutation (p.C217R). Skin fibroblasts from this individual showed an abnormal pattern of expression of several genes coding for elastic fiber-related proteins, including lysyl oxidase-like-1 (LOXL1).

Silver paper: the future of health promotion and preventive actions, basic research, and clinical aspects of age-related disease--a report of the European Summit on Age-Related Disease.

BACKGROUND. In September 2008, under the French Presidency of the European Union and with the support of the Polish Minister of Health, a European Summit on Age-Related Disease was organised inWroclaw (Poland). At this meeting, European politicians, gerontologists and geriatricians gathered to discuss a common approach to future challenges related to age-related disease.

European silver paper on the future of health promotion and preventive actions, basic research and clinical aspects of age-related disease.

The current article is a statement of the meeting with international and multidisciplinary participation, held in Wrocław, Poland on September 11-13, 2008. The meeting was devoted to working out a position focusing on the challenge for individuals, health care systems, biological, psychosocial, epidemiological, medical, and public health sciences in the ageing populations of the twenty-first century. The statement is presented as an overview, in tabular format, of the current European situation regarding basic biological research on ageing, health promotion and preventive action, clinical care for older people, and recommendations for future actions.

Genotype-correlated expression of lysyl oxidase-like 1 in ocular tissues of patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome/glaucoma and normal patients.

Pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome is a generalized disease of the extracellular matrix and the most common identifiable cause of open-angle glaucoma. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms in the lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) gene (rs1048661 and rs3825942) have been recently identified as strong genetic risk factors for both PEX syndrome and PEX glaucoma. Here we investigated the expression and localization of LOXL1, LOXL2, and lysyl oxidase (LOX) in tissues of PEX syndrome/glaucoma patients and controls in correlation with their individual single nucleotide polymorphism genotypes and stages of disease.

Differential expression of lysyl oxidases LOXL1 and LOX during growth and aging suggests specific roles in elastin and collagen fiber remodeling in rat aorta.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in vascular tissue structure, maintenance, and function. Lysyl oxidases catalyze a key step in the posttranslational cross-linking of elastin and collagens in the ECM. Gene knockout studies in mice suggested a role for lysyl oxidase-like (LOXL1) in adult elastin synthesis and a role for its isoform, lysyl oxidase (LOX), in the synthesis of both collagens and elastin during development.

Morpholino knockdown of lysyl oxidase impairs zebrafish development, and reflects some aspects of copper metabolism disorders.

Lysyl oxidase (LOX), a copper-dependent amine oxidase known in mammals to catalyze the cross-linking of collagen and elastin in the extracellular matrix, is a member of a multigenic family. Eight genes encoding lysyl oxidase isoforms have been identified in zebrafish. Recent studies have revealed a critical role for two zebrafish lysyl oxidases-like in the formation of the notochord.

A p.C217R mutation in fibulin-5 from cutis laxa patients is associated with incomplete extracellular matrix formation in a skin equivalent model.

Cutis laxa (CL) is a rare genodermatosis, which is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. It is characterized by redundant, loose, sagging, and inelastic skin. In a consanguineous family from Lebanon with autosomal-recessive transmission, we identified a homozygous missense mutation (c.

Hypoxia influences the cellular cross-talk of human dermal fibroblasts. A proteomic approach.

The ability of cells to respond to changes in oxygen availability is critical for many physiological and pathological processes (i.e. development, aging, wound healing, hypertension, cancer).

LOXL as a target to increase the elastin content in adult skin: a dill extract induces the LOXL gene expression.

The lysyl oxidases lysyl oxidase (LOX) and lysyl oxidase-like (LOXL) are responsible for elastin cross-linking. It was shown recently that LOXL is essential for the elastic fibres homeostasis and for their maintenance at adult age. We first determined whether or not elastin, LOX and LOXL are less expressed during adulthood.

The lysyl oxidase LOX is absent in basal and squamous cell carcinomas and its knockdown induces an invading phenotype in a skin equivalent model.

Lysyl oxidase initiates the enzymatic stage of collagen and elastin cross-linking. Among five isoforms comprising the lysyl oxidase family, LOX is the better studied. LOX is associated to an antitumor activity in ras-transformed fibroblasts, and its expression is down-regulated in many carcinomas.

The Pro-regions of lysyl oxidase and lysyl oxidase-like 1 are required for deposition onto elastic fibers.

These studies were undertaken to determine how lysyl oxidase (LOX) and lysyl oxidase like-1 (LOXL) enzymes are targeted to their substrates in the extracellular matrix. Full-length LOX/LOXL and constructs containing just the pro-regions of each enzyme localized to elastic fibers when expressed in cultured cells. However, the LOXL catalytic domain without the pro-region was secreted into the medium but did not associate with matrix.