Use of calmodulin-like skin protein or related substances to prevent or treat signs of skin aging

摘要

Calmodulin-like skin protein (I) or a fragment of (I) or a nucleic acid encoding (I) or a modulator of the activity, stability or expression of (I) is used cosmetically to prevent or treat signs of skin aging or to prepare a therapeutic composition for this purpose. The polypeptide (I) encoded by SEQ ID NO:1 (defined sequence of 858 nucleotides given in the specification) or a fragment of (I) or a nucleic acid encoding (I) or a modulator of the activity, stability or expression of (I) is used cosmetically to prevent or treat signs of skin aging or to prepare a therapeutic composition for this purpose. Independent claims are also included for: (1) use of (I) to screen for compounds capable of modulating the expression or activity of (I); (2) characterizing the condition of epithelial tissue by determining the amount of (I) or (I)-encoding nucleic acid in a tissue sample and comparing the result with a reference value; (3) screening for antiaging compounds by contacting a (I)-expressing cell with a test compound and determining the amount of (I) expressed; (4) characterizing the efficacy of a cosmetic or therapeutic treatment intended to compensate for signs of skin aging by qualitatively or quantitatively characterizing the expression or biological activity of (I); (5) use of (I) or a modulator of the expression of (I) to prepare or improve a multilayer cellular model, especially a reconstructed skin model.