PPAR gamma receptor, skin lipids and hair

Abstract

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand activated transcription factors belonging to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. Within them, PPARγ is principally considered the “master” regulator of adipogenesis, but its fundamental role in fat metabolism highlights only one facet of the activities of PPARγ in metabolism, which go beyond this tissue. Many reports suggest that PPARγ is involved in various activities in the epidermis, such as keratinocyte differentiation, permeability barrier recovery, dermal wound closure, sebaceous gland formation, sebocyte differentiation, and melanogenesis. While preclinical studies showed that PPARγ ligands could represent efficient and promising strategies to treat different skin diseases, such as psoriasis, rosacea, and tumors, the clinical assays in patients have been disappointing so far, suggesting that PPARγ deserves further studies as therapeutic target. The present chapter summarizes the observations in different preclinical models that demonstrate or suggest a role of PPARγ in various skin pathologies.