Alterations of energy metabolism in cutaneous aging

Abstract

Aging is understood as the result of a complex interaction of biological processes that are caused by both environmental processes (extrinsic aging) and genetic processes (intrinsic aging). Research into the biology of aging has provided detailed insight into the molecular mechanisms of age-related changes in organs, tissues, and cells. Most information relating to intrinsic aging processes comes from tissues other than the skin. This is in part due to the fact that clinically manifest diseases such as Type-2 diabetes or neurodegenerative disease are often correlated with aging of cells. In part it is also due to the fact that substantial amounts of primary cells and organelles for biochemical analyses can be more easily isolated from other organs such as muscle, brain, or liver, as compared with skin. Nevertheless, intrinsic aging is based on general biological processes that apply more or less to all proliferating cells and terminally differentiated cells as well. Therefore, general intrinsic aging processes seen in a liver cell, muscle cell, or neuron can be expected also to apply more or less to skin cells. In fact, most of the aging processes identified and studied with other cells could also be confirmed with keratinocytes or dermal fibroblasts, even though some downstream details may be different. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.