A mechanistic view on the aging human skin through ex vivo layer-by-layer analysis of mechanics and microstructure of facial and mammary dermis

Age-related changes in skin mechanics have a major impact on the aesthetic perception of skin. The link between skin microstructure and mechanics is crucial for therapeutic and cosmetic applications as it bridges the micro- and the macro-scale. While our perception is governed by visual and tactile changes at the macroscopic scale, it is the microscopic scale (molecular assemblies, cells) that is targeted by topical treatments including active compounds and energies. We report here a large dataset on freshly excised human skin, and in particular facial skin highly relevant for cosmetics and aesthetic procedures. Detailed layer-by-layer mechanical analysis revealed significant age-dependent decrease in stiffness and elastic recoil of full-thickness skin from two different anatomical areas. In mammary skin, we found that the onset of mechanical degradation was earlier in the superficial papillary layer than in the deeper, reticular dermis. These mechanical data are linked with microstructural alterations observed in the collagen and elastic networks using staining and advanced imaging approaches. Our data suggest that with ageing, the earliest microstructural and mechanical changes occur in the top-most layers of dermis/skin and then propagate deeper, providing an opportunity for preventive topical treatments acting at the level of papillary dermis.