IT IS not just our bodies that become stiff in old age. Skin cells also appear to become more rigid. The discovery might just lead to new ways to rejuvenate skin.
Wrinkles and the leathery feel of old skin are thought to result from changes in the dermis, the deepest layer of skin. This becomes fibrous, making the skin less elastic. But Igor Sokolov’s team at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, has shown that changes may also be taking place in the epithelial cells above the dermis. “What we have discovered is that the epithelial cells themselves become more…
