((((((((((((( Protein Spotlight Update: about water ))))))))))))))) October 2013 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is no life without water. However, living beings go through life with given amounts of water inside them. Which is why there has to be a system that sustains this balance, and prevents too much water from flowing in, or indeed pouring out. Too large a volume of water in an organism, or too small a one, brings about serious deficiencies, which can lead to an organism’s death. So Nature devised a water barrier which it built around all its creations – a sort of seal that makes sure the volume of water we carry within us remains as stable as possible. When this barrier is deficient, though, individuals can suffer from skin disorders known as ichthyosis – or dry skin – to varying degrees: some mild, others lethal. Since the 1920s, it has been known that fatty acids have a role in mammalian skin hydration. Recently, researchers discovered how two lipooxygenases – epidermis-type lipoxygenase 3 and 12 – have a crucial role in the construction of the mammalian water barrier – and hence our aqueous well-being – thanks to their interactions with essential fatty acids. http://web.expasy.org/spotlight/back_issues/153/