Demand for antiaging cosmeceuticals and cosmetic products was strong in 2009 and growing, according to a recent post at CosmeticDesign.com. As I am decidedly skeptical about the antiaging product marketing that has exploded in the media in the past year, the marriage of antiaging science and market research is questionable at best. The CosmeticDesign.com story mentions anti-aging skin care sales in the US rising 13% between 2006 and 2008, hitting $1.6 billion.

Among the hot areas called out were products to treat skin glycation, a process that weakens skin’s structure at a cellular level; the launch of more technologically advanced ingredients, ranging from elastratropin (a bioengineered form of a part of human elastin) to antioxidant ingredients adapted to cosmetic use; and research investigating the potential of stem cells to heal the ravages of aging. Anti-aging technologies come to the fore in 2009:

Perhaps the biggest development for anti-aging formulations was in the area of stem cell technology.

In a conference held at the HBA event, in New York, back in September, lead LVMH scientist Eric Perrier underlined how such technologies were the path towards efficacy in a jar, as opposed to hope in a jar.

Another speaker at the conference, Boris Petrikovsky, senior scientific advisor for skin care company Bellis Development, discussed his research into fetal skin and how this could present new opportunities for anti-aging ingredients.

According to Petrikovsky, fetal skin heals in a completely different way to adult skin and bears little resemblance to the classic wound repair that scientists are used to and stem cell technology can be used to render it suitable for anti-aging treatments.

As 2009 draws to an end technologically and scientifically advanced anti-aging skin care formulations continue to proliferate, and with this proving to be the key driving factor for the categories, 2010 is set to throw up some equally spectacular developments.

The fact that this activity is all happening "in a jar" is a clue to the hype: One cannot put one's hands on any product that holds the hope of so many that the antiaging market will get real and get serious in the coming year. I admire the antiaging folks for being positive thinkers, though. There may be high hopes for the efficacy and usefulness of new antiaging products, but let's hold off on declaring them and the market a runaway success just yet.

The September 2009 issue of Nature Genetics carried an interresting research story coming out of Asia -- a scientist at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has discovered a new direction for the creation of anti-wrinkle treatments:

Scientists in Singapore and Germany report that mutations in the PYCR1 gene cause the rare genetic condition that results in premature skin aging and that is known as "wrinkly skin syndrome."

Their findings not only suggest that increasing levels of the PYCR1 protein could reverse conditions that cause fast aging and wrinkly skin but also provide insight into how some unexpected genes help maintain youthful skin.

Bruno Reversade, Ph.D. of Singapore's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) led the international research team that involved collaborations with over 15 hospitals and research centres in 13 countries.

Using bioinformatics tools, Dr. Reversade and his team analyzed DNA samples collected worldwide from patients who, at a young age, displayed signs of premature aging. They identified the PYCR1 gene on chromosome 17 of these patients to be defective and found specific mutations in the gene that led to conditions often seen in elderly people, such as loose skin, loss of bone density, hip dislocation and cataract.

They also determined that skin and bone were the two tissues most severely affected in patients with wrinkly skin syndrome. Since skin and bone contain high levels of the PYCR1 protein under normal circumstances, developing therapies that could increase the activity of the PYCR1 protein could possibly reverse the process of aging in affected individuals or slow it down in normal people.

The scientists found that the PYCR1 protein is located in mitochondria, the cell's "power house," providing energy for the cell's consumption. In their experiments, they observed changes in mitochondrial morphology and cell death in the connective tissues of individuals with PYCR1 mutations.

To determine the effects of reduced levels of PYCR1 protein, the scientists studied the growth of frog and fish models in which the PYCR1 gene had been experimentally shut off. They found that the mitochondrial function in the animal models' skin was altered, and there was also an increased occurrence of cell death.

"Our findings confirm the significance of mitochondrial function in the aging process," said Dr. Reversade. "They also unexpectedly highlight the importance of metabolism as PYCR1 is important in the synthesis of proline, a common amino acid involved in metabolism. Age-defying and anti-wrinkling treatments for common disorders related to ageing may also benefit from sustaining proline metabolism."

Read it all.

The fourth Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) Conference is currently underway at Queens' College, Cambridge, England. The meeting brings together experts in the antiaging research and medical communities under a common banner: to expedite the development of truly effective therapies to postpone and treat human aging.

The solution, they say, is to tackle antiaging as an engineering problem. In other words, an important goal is to enumerate the accumulating molecular and cellular changes that eventually kill us and identifying ways to repair -- reverse -- those changes, rather than merely to slow down their further accumulation.

The home page for the SENS4 conference is here. A complete listing of all the conference abstracts is here.