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The Brain of the Skin: Sebaceous Gland

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Lipids and Skin Health

Abstract

Among the multiple endocrine functions of the sebaceous gland currently reported, an independent endocrine function and the involvement in a regulatory neuropeptide program are of major importance. Sebocytes express bioactive receptors for peptide hormones, including neurotransmitters, which are mostly arranged on the cell surface (CRHR, MCR, µ-opiate receptors, VPAC receptors, CBR, histamine 1 receptor, IGF-1 receptor, EGFR, and GHR), and for steroid and thyroid class hormones (AR, PR, ER, RAR, RXR, VDR, PPAR, and LXR), which are found in the cytoplasm or nuclear compartment. A hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal-like axis has been detected in the skin. CRH, the most proximal molecule of the axis, is produced in human sebocytes under stress conditions and is likely to serve as an important autocrine sebocyte hormone with a homeostatic prodifferentiation activity. Sebaceous gland development, cell differentiation, and lipogenesis are mainly regulated by androgens, whereas the sebaceous gland possesses the entire enzymatic machinery for steroidogenesis. During the process of aging, the sebaceous gland undergoes molecular changes, which are representative for the skin and predictive for tissues derived from the same embryologic origin, such as the central nervous system. In the last 40 years, increasing knowledge on sebaceous gland functions has turned the concept of a “living fossil with a past but no future” to that of the “brain of the skin.”

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Abbreviations

α-MSH:

α-Melanocyte stimulating hormone

Δ5–4 3β-HSD:

3β-Hyroxysteroid dehydrogenase Δ5–4 isomerase

24OHase:

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D-24-hydroxylase

AR:

Androgen receptor

CBR:

Cannabinoid receptor

CRH:

Corticotropin-releasing hormone

CRHR:

Corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor

DHEA:

Dehydroepiandrosterone

DHT:

5α-Dihydrotestosterone

EGF:

Epidermal growth factor

ER:

Estrogen receptor

GH:

Growth hormone

HPA:

Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal

IGF-1:

Insulin-like growth factor 1

IL:

Interleukin

LXR:

Liver X receptor

MC1R:

Melanocortin 1 receptor

MC5R:

Melanocortin 5 receptor

PPAR:

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor

PR:

Progesterone receptor

RA:

Retinoic acid

RAR:

Retinoic acid receptor

RXR:

Retinoid X receptor

VDR:

Vitamin D receptor

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  1. Departments of Dermatology, Venereology, Allergology and Immunology, Dessau Medical Center, Auenweg 38, 06847, Dessau, Germany

    Christos C. Zouboulis

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  1. Johnson & Johnson, Skillman, New Jersey, USA

    Apostolos Pappas

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Zouboulis, C. (2015). The Brain of the Skin: Sebaceous Gland. In: Pappas, A. (eds) Lipids and Skin Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09943-9_8

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