Collagen is one of the most critical parts of our skin. It’s a major component in our bodies but in terms of the skin, it gives our skin structure and strength. This article will discuss what collagen is, its importance, how it forms, how it degrades and some ingredients that actually help with production.
What is collagen?
Collagen is a protein, more specifically a structural protein that is found in our skin, hair cells, tendons, bones and connective tissue. It has a triple-helix configuration and gives our skin structure and contributes to its firmness and bounce. It is a major component of our extracellular matrix and makes up roughly 75% of the dry weight of our skin. Collagen is a very large family of proteins consisting of a minimum of thirty subtypes. The 2 most common subtypes are fibrillar and non-fibrillar. The most discussed types of fibrillar collagen include type I, II, III, V and IX. Non-fibrillar collagen is a much more diverse group and contains (but not limited to) type XI, XII, short chain, and basement membrane collagen (type IV).
The most common types of collagen discussed are type I, II, III, IV and V. Type I collagen is abundant in the skin, tendons and bones. Type II collagen is found in and is the major component of cartilage and type III collagen is located in the connective tissue. Type IV is found in the basal lamina layer of our skin and type V collagen is found in hair and the placenta.
How its formed
Collagen production occurs in the dermis layer of our skin by our fibroblast cells and the process is quite extensive. Collagen begins its formation within the fibroblasts where the genes, COL1A1 and COL1A2 instruct the creation of the 3 chains within the triple helix; 2 pro-a1 chains and 1 pro-a2 chain. After encoding, the chains move to the endoplasmic reticulum where translation occurs (creating the polypeptide chains) followed by modifications such as hydroxylation and glycosylation. The polypeptide chains can then twist together creating the triple helix structure known as procollagen. Procollagen is then transported outside the cell where different enzyme proteinases will cleave the N- and C-terminal pro-peptides. This allows for the procollagen molecules to assemble with one another and cross-link to create strong, collagen fibrils.
How it degrades
Type I collagen is the collagen that skincare companies are referring to and that products are designed around. This is such a focus because our skin functions optimally until our mid 20s to mid 30s. This transition brings slower collagen production, and our current collagen starts to break down. We begin losing approximately 1% of collagen every year starting around the age of 30.
The breakdown of collagen stems for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. As we age, there is an increase in concentration of modifications and cross-links within older collagen. This leads to collagen fragmentation which makes it challenging for our fibroblasts to replace the collagen and causes a decrease in the number of sites where fibroblasts can attach and signal for procollagen. The increased number of cross-links makes our skin less bouncy and more tough. The structure of the dermis becomes more disorganized as collagen and elastin fibers collect irregularities over time which lead to fine lines and wrinkles.
While collagen breakdown is a natural process there are other factors that induce or speed up its breakdown. For example, the sun is one of the most common aggressors to collagen. UV exposure gives rise to the production of free radicals which leads to oxidative stress. In addition, UV exposure signals our skin cells to produce enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) which breakdown collagen fibers. The result is often described as photoaging, where consistent UV exposure leads to fine lines, wrinkles, reduced elasticity and sunspots.
Ingredients that can help
Almost every skincare product and ingredient on the market claims to stimulate collagen production. While many of these ingredients may have conducted in-house studies that show this to some degree, it is often a lot more complicated and a large amount of data is required to really demonstrate and make these types of claims.
There are only a handful of ingredients that have enough data where experts in the beauty community feel comfortable to stand behind these types of claims. The most popular ingredients on this list include retinoids and vitamin C, more specifically ascorbic acid. Retinoids have proved in many studies and over many years to promote collagen production and prevent its degradation. They reinforce the structure of the skin which lead to a thicker epidermis and dermis, creating firmer and plumper skin. It is best to start using a retinoid when collagen production beings to slow in your late 20s to early 30s. Vitamin C has also proven to boost collagen production as well as make it more structured, along with its other many benefits. It has been studied in-depth, and this has been known since the 80s making it a great ingredient to support our skin as we age.
Another ingredient that has been heavily examined over the years is Matrixyl 3000. As a whole, there isn’t enough data and there’s too much unknown around most peptides. However, Matrixyl 3000 is one blend of peptides that does have enough data on it to confidently include it on the list. This ingredient isn’t going to be as potent as retinoids and ascorbic acid but is a great supporting ingredient to take advantage of.
