The outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, is a physical barrier for both the prevention of external substances such as pathogens infiltrating through the skin, and desiccation from the body. The stratum corneum is composed of corneocytes within a lipid matrix. The lipid matrix consists of ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids, organized in a crystalline lamellar phase. It is this lipid matrix that has been identified as a major contributor to the skin’s barrier function.

The lipid organization can be reproduced as models using lipids found in the stratum corneum. However, to fully understand the ability of these models to mimic the behavior of the lipid matrices found in the stratum corneum, detailed analysis is required.

It is the aim of this project to better understand how the physical properties of lipids influences the structure and overall barrier function of the skin.

To achieve this we investigate how these properties affect the organization within the lamellae and the phase behavior. Information on the lipid arrangement and structure is obtain with the use of techniques such as X-ray and neutron diffraction as well as fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).