T14, a peptide promoting cell growth and renewal in other parts of the body, also operates in skin.

A novel peptide ‘T14’ may reflect age and photoaging in human skin, according to a study in Aging.

T14 is a 14mer peptide derived from the C-terminus of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Once cleaved, it is independently bioactive of the parent molecule and enhances calcium influx in different cell types, in a range of scenarios: it binds to an allosteric site selectively on the alpha-7 receptor, where it modulates calcium influx and is thus a potential trophic agent, as already reported in a range of normal developmental scenarios. 

However, if inappropriately activated, this beneficial effect converts to a toxic one, resulting in pathologies as disparate as Alzheimer’s and various metastatic cancers. 

In this new study, given that epidermal keratinocyte cells have the same ectodermal origin as brain cells and express AChE and the alpha-7 receptor, researchers  from Unilever Research and Development and Neuro-Bio explored whether T14 plays a comparable role. 

The first aim of this study was therefore to see if T14-ir could be detected in keratinocytes using an antibody that would not recognize the parent AChE itself, and thus be readily differentiated from it. The second aim was to investigate the possibility that T14 was not only present in keratinocytes but could be regarded as an index reflecting not just age but also photo-induced aging.

T14 immunoreactivity is detectable in human keratinocytes with levels inversely related to age. This decrease is even more apparent with chronic photo-exposure and thus accelerated skin aging. T14, an agent promoting cell growth and renewal in other parts of the body, also operates in skin. Moreover, monitoring of keratinocyte T14 levels might offer further insights into the now well reported link between degenerative diseases and epidermal cell profile, the researchers conclude.

“Hence further exploration of the T14 system in the epidermis might prompt new insights into the treatment of hyperproliferative skin disorders, as well as into the mechanisms of normal skin age and ageing,” they write.

PHOTO IMAGE: FIGURE 2. DETECTION OF T14 IN SKIN. 

PHOTO CREDIT: 2023 ROCHA ET AL.