Scientists of University of Manchester say they have found the mechanism of skin binding, which they think will have benefits for curing  both skin diseases and heart problems.

“Our skin is made up of three different layers, the outermost of which is the epidermis. This layer is only about 1/10th of a millimetre thick yet it is tough enough to protect us from the outside environment and withstand the wear and tear of everyday life,” said Professor David Garrod, lead author of the study.

Garrod and colleagues used chemical cross-linking to study cells of the epidermis and found what they believe to be the principal mechanism by which the glue molecules of desmosomes of skin cell bind to each other.

Desmosomes are intercellular anchoring junctions that anchor intermediate filaments at membrane-associated plaques in adjoining cells.

The results showed that each glue molecule on one cell binds primarily to another of the same type on the neighboring cell, which means the binding is highly specific.

"One reason our epidermis can do this is because its cells are very strongly bound together by tiny structures called desmosomes, sometimes likened to rivets. We know that people who have defects in their desmosomes have problems with their epidermis and get extremely unpleasant skin diseases. Understanding how desmosomes function is essential for developing better treatments for these and other types of skin disease and for non-healing wounds,” Garrod said.

Desmosomes also play an important role in locking together the muscle cells of the heart, and hearts where desmosomes are defective can fail catastrophically, causing sudden death in young people.

“Hence our findings may also be relevant in the heart and in developing new treatments for heart disease," Garrod added.  

Stephen Lau and editing by Denise Reynolds