News
| 06 Jul 2006 | [Printable Version] |
[A photograph for media use is available at
http://www.clarkson.edu/news/photos/sokolov_05.jpg
Potsdam, N.Y. – There is no stopping the skin’s aging process, but Igor Sokolov, a Physics professor at Clarkson University, doesn’t believe your skin has to look as old as you are.
Loss of elasticity is also implicated in the pathogenesis of many progressive diseases of aging, such as hardening of the arteries, joint stiffness, cataracts, Alzheimer’s and dementia. The Clarkson team observed the increasing density of filamentous fibers, known as f-actin, is a major source of the increasing rigidity.
Sokolov used the Internet to research the process for making homemade emollients and then concocted a skin cream containing compounds known to interfere with f-actin polymerization. In collaboration with St. Lawrence University professor Joseph S. Erlichman, Sokolov tested his cream on hairless laboratory mice. After five months of daily testing the skin treated with the active cream gradually became softer.
Sokolov reported at the annual Applied Physics Society meeting that he had been treating himself daily with the emollient near one eye and a placebo cream on the other. The magazine reported “to the untrained eye” it appeared as if the cream was working – fewer lines and wrinkles are evident around the eye that had been getting the active cream.”
Chemical & Engineering News is a member-supported weekly magazine of the American Chemical Society. It is the most read and the only global publication serving the chemical process industries.
[News directors and editors: For more information, contact Rick Burt, director of Media Relations, at 315-268-3873 or rburt@clarkson.edu.]
