The human skin is a complex organ, and its aging is a complicated process involving both the passage of time (chronological aging) and environmental exposure, especially to UV light (photoaging). This aging phenomenon works through various cellular mechanisms, including changes in apoptosis, alterations in cellular signaling, and an increased genetic instability. In this study, we conducted a proteomic analysis of human sun-protected vs sun-exposed epithelium from a single subject, and young vs older skin from two distinct biological sampling groups, using the same area of the body. We also tested a barocycler device vs sonication as a way to remove cells/proteins from D-squame sampling discs. Some previous studies have shown higher levels of proteases in sun-damaged epithelium, while other studies have shown diminished proteosome components in aged skin. Initial results from this study revealed some proteases to be up-regulated in the sun-protected relative to sun-exposed skin, as well as higher levels of proteosome components in sun-protected skin, and also higher levels of two serpins, which inhibit serine proteases, suggesting complex regulation of protein catalysis. Few proteins showed significant differences by normalized spectral counts between the young vs aged biological samples. The differences in proteins due to sun exposure warrants further attention.
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