Skin As a Complex Sensory System: A New Approach for a Renewed Skin Barrier.

The skin is our body's greatest organ, as well as the most sophisticated sensory system. Researchers have discovered that skin, like our tongue and nose, can smell and taste due to olfactory and taste receptors. This might be a starting point for designing beauty products that activate the TAS2R bitter taste receptors in human skin, contributing to beneficial cutaneous activity. In particular, the activation of bitter taste receptors through topical application may help to increase intracellular calcium levels and play a significant role in the homeostasis of the cutaneous system.

Human epidermal keratinocytes were seeded into a 96-well tissue culture plate and grown to confluency in complete media. 0.01%, 0.1%, and 1.0% concentrations of the bitter blend were added to complete media and incubated with keratinocytes. Complete media containing 1mM CaCl2 was utilized as a positive control. 2mM EGTA in the presence of 1mM CaCl2 was utilized as a negative control. After a 60-minute incubation at 37°C, 50μL of calcium reagent solution was added. The plate was returned to 37°C for 60 minutes followed by 30 minutes at room temperature. Fluorescence measurements were taken on a Synergy H1 Microplate Reader.

The data demonstrates that the bitter blend increases intracellular calcium, an indicator of keratinocyte proliferation, differentiation, and migration, which contributes to the maintenance of skin barrier integrity and homeostasis. When these receptors are activated, the body releases calcium and protein essential to the skin barrier, and stimulates the synthesis of skin lipids. Utilizing the bitter blend delivers anti-aging effects through increasing surface metabolism, as well as the regulation of cellular senescence. Assays in Intracellular Calcium, Lipid Peroxidation, Scratch, SA-B-Gal Cellular Senescence, in-vivo Hydration and TEWL prove this technology can successfully activate the TAS2R bitter taste receptor in skin to effectively provide barrier strengthening, skin homeostasis, and anti-aging effects.