Young, old, OVX mouse Skin LC-MSMS, 3M Urea extraction

ABSTRACT: Ageing compromises the mechanical properties of skin, with increased fragility and coincident slowing of the healing process making aged skin susceptible to chronic wounding. The ageing process is driven by an aggregation of damage to cells and extracellular matrix, compounded by regulatory changes, including age-associated hormonal dysregulation. Here we report on the correlation between mechanical properties and composition of skin from ovariectomised and chronologically aged mice, to assess the extent to which estrogen deprivation drives dermal ageing. We found that age and estrogen abrogation affected skin mechanical properties in contrasting ways: ageing lead to increased tensile strength and stiffness while estrogen deprivation had the opposite effect. Mass spectrometry proteomics showed that the quantity of extractable fibrillar collagen-I decreased with ageing, but no change was observed in ovariectomised mice. This observation, in combination with measurements of tensile strength, was interpreted to reflect changes to the extent of extracellular matrix crosslinking, supported by a significant increase in the staining of advanced glycation endpoints in aged skin. Loss of mechanical strength in the ovariectomy model was consistent with a loss of elastic fibres. Other changes in extracellular matrix composition broadly correlated between aged and ovariectomised mice, indicative of the role of estrogen-related pathways in ageing. This study offers a coherent picture of the relationship between tissue composition and mechanics, but suggests that the deleterious effects of intrinsic skin ageing are compounded by factors beyond hormonal dysregulation.

INSTRUMENT(S): Q Exactive

ORGANISM(S): Mus Musculus (mouse)

TISSUE(S): Skin

SUBMITTER: Venkatesh Mallikarjun  

LAB HEAD: Joe Swift

PROVIDER: PXD012753 | Pride | 2019-03-11

REPOSITORIES: Pride