The Extracellular Matrix: The Key to Keeping Your Skin Healthy and Radiant
Hello ladies! If you are over 40 years old, you might have noticed changes in your skin and other tissues that can be attributed to the aging process. One of the less discussed, but very important factors that influence the health and appearance of your tissues is your skin’s extracellular matrix (ECM).
Honest Skincare for Younger Looking Skin
Yes this is a blog post about the science of skin, it may take you back to your biology lessons but here at REMY we believe in honest skincare and for that we are telling you the truth about how your skin cells grow and how best to nourish them for younger looking skin.
The ECM is a complex structure that surrounds all of your cells and organs, playing a vital role in cell behaviour and tissue growth. It's fascinating and dynamic, with different cocktails of components in each tissue. So, what is the ECM, and how does it support your cells?
In this blog post, we will explain what the ECM is, how it works, and why it matters for your overall skin health.
The ECM Provides Structure and Nutrients
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is like a scaffolding that surrounds and supports the cells in your body. It is made up of a complex network of proteins, carbohydrates, and other molecules that surround the cell and are secreted by cells themselves. One of the key functions of the ECM is to provide nutrients and growth factors to the cells it surrounds. This is crucial for cell survival, growth, and differentiation. In this respect the ECM acts as a highway for the nutrients, passing them from the bloodstream to the cells and organs that need them. Without these nutrients, your cells wouldn't be able to function correctly. Therefore, the ECM is essential for the survival of your tissues. Interestingly, each tissue in your body has its own special ECM cocktail. There's not a one-size-fits-all ECM mixture; each tissue's ECM is uniquely tailored to its functions, ensuring optimal support and nutrition. For example, the ECM in bone is very hard and rigid, while the ECM in skin is more flexible and elastic.
The ECM is not static. It's a highly dynamic structure that undergoes continuous remodelling, adapting to the changes in the body's needs (1) (2). Cells that surround the ECM are responsible for secreting new substances to replenish and modify the ECM mixture. This remodelling process is crucial for the health and vitality of the tissue, allowing it to adapt to stress, injury, growth, and aging (3).
The Underlying Cause of Wrinkled Skin
In its dynamic role the ECM is involved in cell signalling, which means it can influence how cells behave and respond to different stimuli. For example, the ECM can signal to cells, acting like a party planner, directing the cells to proliferate, differentiate or migrate depending on the current needs of the body. For example, when your skin is damaged, the ECM signals the skin cells to migrate to the affected area and repair the injury (4). Without the ECM's guidance, the repair process would be slow and less efficient. As we age, the composition and organization of our ECM change. This can lead to a decline in tissue function and integrity, as well as an increased risk of diseases such as osteoporosis, arthritis, and cancer (5). For example, in skin, the ECM becomes thinner and with less elastic components, which can result in wrinkles, sagging, and loss of hydration. In bone, the ECM can become more brittle and porous, which increases the risk of fractures and other injuries.
To maintain the health of your ECM, it is important to provide your body with the necessary nutrients and building blocks. Some of the key components of ECM for skin include collagen, elastin, glycosaminoglycans, and fibronectin. These can be obtained from a balanced and varied diet that includes sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Additionally, some supplements and topical products can also support the ECM and enhance its function.
The Secret to Healthy Radiant Skin Lies Beneath in the ECM
The dermal ECM makes up the bulk of skin, giving it strength and resilience, yet many beauty products never mention the ECM, just your keratinocytes which are the uppermost specialised epithelial skin cells; REMY does mention the ECM as it is this part of our skin structure that we aim to provide nutrients to using our formulated food supplements. REMY aims to provide key nutrients to the ECM for your life stage to provide the necessary nutrition that may be lacking from your normal healthy diet to support you skin cells to be healthy and radiant. Yet we don’t ignore that your outer skin has endured the tolls of the environment and replenishing nutrients from the outside provides relief to these cells from the stresses it may have encountered.
The ECM is important for healthy and radiant skin as the proteins that it contains help the skin retain water and keep it smooth, firm, and strong where each protein adds their own property to the cocktail mix. The main components of dermal ECM include:
Proteoglycans, adhesive glycoproteins (fibronectins and laminins) and fibrous proteins (collagens and elastin) as well as many proteins such as growth factors, cytokines and proteolytic enzymes (6).
Proteoglycans usually referred to as glycosaminoglycans or GAGs for short, promote cell-ECM adhesion and tend to have lubrication functions. A special type of GAG is hyaluronan (HA) which is found in many cosmetic products as hyaluronic acid including REMY’s Rebalance My Skin. It is necessary in skin as it plays a big role for skin hydration, its ability to hold onto water molecules and fill spaces helps skin remain plump, it is also useful in assisting wound healing and inflammation (7).
Collagen and the ECM for Younger Looking Skin
Collagen is a main component of the ECM; it is a fibrous protein that the skin relies on the most to provide most of its structural integrity (8). In aging skin, the production of collagen decreases which is why most antiaging products target and aim to reverse this loss of collagen although other factors shouldn’t be overlooked as the ECM has a whole host of supporting components that feed and instruct epithelial skin cells to function and that all interact together to allow each other’s synthesis and operation (9) (10).
To understand the role of collagen in skin and how it interacts with other ECM components we need to look at the structure of skin. The skin has three layers: The epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue and they each have their own roles to play.
The epidermis is what covers our bodies and is presented to the outside environment, it is made up of keratinocytes that are epithelial cells that have differentiated into the specialized role of providing a tightly knit network of cells that protects the internal body from the outside environment. The epidermis is our first line of defence to pollutants, chemical exposure, UV radiation – when it isn’t injured it stops pathogens entering our body. When it is injured, our skin has the amazing ability to heal rapidly to ensure that this role is maintained – however as we age the ability to heal diminishes as does the integrity of our skin to protect us from external factors because there is a reduction in the number of fibroblasts and quantity of ECM produced.
The dermis is mainly made up of the ECM and fibroblasts, it supports the epithelial cells above it by providing them with structural support, nutrition and chemical signals to the epidermis instructing it how to respond to events. For example, if your skin is physically injured, chemicals and signals are released by the keratinocytes into the ECM first to say they are compromised this in turn makes cells such as fibroblasts in the dermis to multiply and assist in the repair until the epithelial cells can themselves multiply and cover the wound in the healing process and reform their keratinocyte function. Fibroblast cells strongly support epithelial growth, it is known that when growing skin in a laboratory they need a feeder layer of fibroblasts. The fibroblasts secrete proteins and other components into the ECM to feed and communicate with epithelial cells, they help epithelial cells differentiate into their specialised role of keratinocytes and provide a source of collagen and elastin without fibroblasts the structural integrity of the skin is lost.
Should I take a Collagen Only Supplement?
Replenishing the bioavailable collagen in our bodies sounds a great idea and many people use topical face creams to help replenish collagen in the upper skin layers. As it’s the ECM that makes collagen and this is increasingly becoming known then dietary food supplements containing only collagen look promising. However, collagen likes to have the support of some other nutrients to help it to synthesis, maintain and repair its collagen fibres. These are detailed in our blog Collagen Supplements for Skincare.
Consuming an oral supplement containing collagen and its supporting nutrients is a great way to deliver nutrients to support emerging cell growth and function in the ECM for healthy radiant skin, and teamed with the application of a fast absorbing serum that can get deliver key nutrients to the upper most skin cells quickly is a match made in heaven to journey towards fabulously healthy and radiant skin from the inside and out, which is why REMY offers a dual approach to skin care.
Dual Approach to Skincare for Health Radiant Skin
With the aging process of the skin, these three layers undergo degenerative changes, and changes to the epidermis are the most visible as it is what is presented to the world, but it is the dermis where changes are seen in the laboratory the most and shouldn’t be overlooked to assist in improving the visible signs of skin aging of the epidermis. Which is why REMY has the dual approach to skincare: nourishing your skin from the inside and out.
Dual Approach to Skincare for Health Radiant Skin
Nourishing from the inside helps to replenish and rebalance key nutrients in the ECM that go on to provide the nutrition for healthy, radiant skin cell growth meaning your skin cells emerge as keratinocytes in their optimum condition for your life-stage. 
Nourishing from the outside helps to soothe and provide relief to those outer keratinocytes of the epidermis – the skin that is exposed to the environment (or hidden under clothes) - REMY’s Rebalance My Skin night-time serum offers a gentle balance of antiaging components formulated to assist menopausal skin that can be dry and itchy one day then breaking out in spots the next, where antiaging creams can be too greasy and fragrant but teenage spot relief is too harsh and doesn’t assist with helping out with diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Conclusion
Understanding the role of collagen and the extracellular matrix in menopause skincare is crucial for women going through this transitional phase. By Embracing overall lifestyle changes can also contribute to maintaining healthy, vibrant skin throughout this transformative period.
By taking care of our extracellular matrix, we can help keep our skin strong and healthy-looking. The ECM is a powerful defense against aging, helping us maintain smoother, more vibrant complexion for years to come. Implementing comprehensive skincare strategies, including products that have collagen-boosting ingredients, moisturisation, and a healthy diet, ladies can improve the quality and appearance of their skin during menopause. By providing the nutrients it needs through topical and digestible skincare products, you can help give your ECM the boost it needs to stay strong and young! So, what are you waiting for? Start giving your ECM the love it deserves today! Your youthful-looking skin will thank you later! :)
References
- Collagen Cross-Linking: Insights on the Evolution of Metazoan Extracellular Matrix. Rodriguez-Pascual F., Slatter D.A. 2016.
- The Extracellular Matrix at a Glance. Frantz C., Stewart K.M., Weaver V.M. 2010.
- Tissue-Specific Extracellular Matrix Coatings for the Promotion of Cell Proliferation and Maintenance of Cell Phenotype. Zhang Y., He Y., Bharadwaj S., Hammam N., Carnagey K., Myers R., Atala A., Van Dyke M. 2009.
- The Balance between Cell Cycle Arrest and Cell Proliferation: Control by the Extracellular Matrix and by Contact Inhibition. Gérard C., Goldbeter A. 2014.
- Extracellular Matrix–Associated Factors Play Critical Roles in Regulating Pancreatic β-Cell Proliferation and Survival. Townsend S.E., Gannon M. 2019.
- Extracellular matrix molecules: Potential targets in pharmacotherapy. . Järveläinen H., Sainio A., Koulu M., Wight T.N., Penttinen R. 2009 : s.n.
- Functions of hyaluronan in wound repair. Chen W.Y., Abatangelo G. 1999.
- Hyaluronan: A simple polysaccharide with diverse biological functions. Dicker K.T., Gurski L.A., Pradhan-Bhatt S., Witt R.L., Farach-Carson M.C., Jia X. 2014.
- Matrix-degrading metalloproteinases in photoaging. Quan T., Qin Z., Xia W., Shao Y., Voorhees J.J., Fisher G.J. 2009.
- Reduced type i and type iii procollagens in photodamaged adult human skin. Talwar H.S., Griffiths C.E., Fisher G.J., Hamilton T.A., Voorhees J.J. 1995.
- Collagen of Extracellular Matrix from Marine Invertebrates and Its Medical Applications. . M.A., Rahman. 2019.
