Arginine-based surfactants alter the rheological and in-plane structural of stratum corneum model membranes

Hypothesis: Amino acid-based surfactants have been proposed as skin permeation enhancers. In this work, we investigated the potentiality of two arginine-based amphiphiles as permeation enhancers by studying their interaction with stratum corneum (SC) model lipid membranes.Experiments: Na-benzoyl arginine decyl-and dodecylamide were tested in comparison with the classical enhancer, oleic acid, and the non-enhancer, stearic acid. Two complementary approaches were used: lipid monolayers, taken as models of the unit film layer of SC, and atomistic molecular dynamics simu-lations.Findings: The arginine-based amphiphiles studied were able to be incorporated into the SCM membrane and alter its rheological and structural properties by disordering the lipid chains, enhancing membrane elasticity, and thinning the overall membrane. They also affected the lateral structure of heterogeneous SC membranes at the nanoscale by relaxing and rounding the domain borders. Our work shows that the alteration observed of the overall rheological and structural properties of the SC membranes appears to be a shared ability for several amphiphilic permeation enhancers. Our results encourage future explo-ration of those amphiphiles as skin permeation enhancers.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigated the potential of two arginine-based amphiphiles as skin permeation enhancers by studying their interaction with stratum corneum (SC) model lipid membranes. The arginine-based amphiphiles were able to be incorporated into the SC membrane, altering its rheological and structural properties. They also affected the lateral structure of heterogeneous SC membranes at the nanoscale. The results encourage further exploration of these amphiphiles as skin permeation enhancers.