European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 8, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sophisticated wrapper by Harold m. Schmeck or. Naw York times scientists Are Linda gloat human Shn. A rum being Fust an elegant Waterproof wrapper is a surprisingly Cample Organ that produces or remodels hormones enzymes and other substances thai May have vital Al tells throughout the body same functions of skin cells appear la supplement Iho Soof the liver the body s Mam chemical processing plan the skin. The body s largest Organ also appears to act closely with the immune defences Trie picture a the skin s functions has been changing rapidly in recent years Wilh the help of Bel Ler techniques Tor growing cells in the Laboratory and belter less Tor selecting and analysing a cell s chemical products the latest findings some of which were reported by scientists it a mooting in Mew Vork cily recently May help explain Why in is so diff Cut to save some people who have suffered serious Burns ii May also explain Why same drugs 3c Ditle really in the rodents they Are lasted on than in humans and perhaps oven Why Homo Sapiens Gol along so Wel in the Early years of the species a thou the Lur thai covers All other mammals in n severe birr. Toron ample. So o Iho skin s biochemical functions May be to a dealing problems that go beyond the los i of Tho skin As a Barrier it Iho Oul Sicto wotfu1 moreover human skin Dillars Bidet Nii Cally from thai of mice and fats Aix the Dit Lorences May explain Why a Diug that proved useful in tests against in actions of animal skin May be useless Tor humans As la Iho evolutionary question human skin has potent chemical and immune Doncal As Wen As physical de lenses. These May have Given Early humans a powerful defense against Inlo Lions and other invasions through the skin even in the absence of or the skin s outermost layer the epidermis is made almost Coli rely of cells called  that Are in various stages of it owl development and senescence the Colts on the surface in sat ate dead Kriati Noyles called squad pcs that continually Slough Oil As new cells replace them cells deeper in the epidermal layer basal cells and Spinous cells grow lop Roduco and  in response to influences Iron the outside world and chemical signals irom neighbor cells and others deep in the body. Ii us fld Loba thought thai the Mam almost the sole Lun Clion of the epidermal cells Vas to provide a physical Structure ital helps give the body shape preserves it trom drying out and protects in from a multitude of assaults from the outside world few metabolic Lun Lions of epidermal skin cells were known except for the Shin s Iola in helping produce Vitamin 0 which is really a hormone that strengthens Bones and has other important unctions. We used to think of Kerala Noyles As cells Hal responded to signals said or. Leonard m. Mils Lone of Yale University and the Wesl Haven veterans administration Hospital. Now he said Scien iils arc coping Wilh the novel idea that these cells play Active elector roles in body chemistry Loo an effector Celt in arts tone s definition is one Hal Allers tha behaviour of another cell the new studies have Shewn that the Kerat Moyles Are capable of modifying steroid hormones to put them into biologically Active lorm. The cells can produce other  substances and a substantial number of biologically Active products that were Long thought to be the exclusive property of White blood cells liver cells or other organs. Tub skin cells Are also capable of reprocessing the thyroid hormone into its most biologically powerful form. In addition epidermal Colls produce several of the substances such As meter Crons and Inrod Eukes known to be important to the immune defense system. Milstone and Richard l. Edolson of Vale organized an inner National conference on the unctions of Kerala Noyles that was held recently in Manhattan by the new York Academy of sciences one of the key questions before the scientists is How much lha skin s biochemical products acl Only locally on other skin cells and a radars irom to outside and How much the products influence the rest of the body by definition a hormone is a substance produced by one cell or Issue thai Al acts Distant tissues. By this definition some of the newly discovered functions of keratin cycles suggest the cells Are hormone producers but hrs is hard to prove. The cells can respond to signals from underlying tissues by Diller entitling into hair or nails mils Lone said and hey skin and its Many roles Epi dmm. It Raj by toured respond to external stimuli such As Light chemicals Iri Clion or microbes by allying their Rales of proliferation or replacement. The i a spend to genetic and metabolic deficiencies and to the inevitable immunologic Battles which occur in the skin by making he wide variety of Scales and blisters which Delight the diagnostic eyes of so Many of us who Are clinicians he said in an address Al the conference. But except Tor the role in Vitamin d production he added. The Eph Cormia As a potential biochemical Organ was larger ignored. Is Ginkgo Good for what ails you by John Noble Wilford new York times n what could be a step toward testing a Folk remedy for modern medical use chemists at Harvard University have succeeded in synthesizing the potent substance responsible Lor the ancient e Iago tree s enduring reputation As the source of varied Healing Powers. Chemists and Bol Aniels said recently that their so total Laboratory synthesis of the compound Ginkgo Lide  Lead to ils widespread use in treating asthma toxic Shock alzheimer s disease Arvd various circulatory disorders the Ginkgo compound is also being Studi Edas a possibly safer substitute Lor drugs now Given to recipients of transplanted Organ to prevent the body if Orn ejecting them the ability to make the compound in the Laboratory is expected to facilitate further research and the production of larger amounts in a pure lorm or clinical tests of the Elsec Livenais and safety of Ginkgo based drugs. Although Ginkgo extracts Are we duly used in Asia and increasingly used in much of Europe representing a $500-Mjluan-a year Market they Are not approved As a Medicine in great Britain or the United Stales. Once again science is looking to Plant Hie to Harvest ingredients of powerful medicines. Almost Hall of All prescription drugs dispensed in the United slates contain substances of natural origin. From the Cinchona bark for instance came Quinino from the Rauw Ollia Plant reserpine for Tranquili Zers Horn foxglove digitalis and. Lion mexican yams the raw malarial for the first steroids. Even Ordinary aspirin was fist derived in part from Willow bark. Now scientific attention is turning to the distinctive Ian shaped Leaf of a tree so ancient Hal Darwin called it a living  a lorm of Iho Ginkgo first appeared 300 million years ago and nourished throughout the time of the dinosaurs the surviving species Ginkgo Bilboa sometimes called the Maidenhair tick. Is sacred 1 o Buddhist and is a familiar sight outside temples in China and Japan a Hardy tree resistant to pests and pollution it has taken a prominent place in Western cities. For at least 5,000 years an extract of lha pm go loaf has been recommended in chinese Medicine is being Good Lor the heart and lungs and for coughs As Lorna. And acute allergic inflammations. In Latti Idonat hindu Medicine it is a constituent of an elixir called Soma. Encouraged by new research exploring the Ginkgo s Powers. Bias j. Corey profess Orfil chemistry a Harvard and his  replica led the substance Ide Lilied As the one most Likely to have important medical applications. Tho molecule is so Complex that other laboratories had Given up trying to synthesize it. Corey who likened the synthesis of the natural chemical to serving a Lough crossword Puzzle said in an interview that he and is associates were now see Unga More practical Way to assemble the molecule for wider production. My Tab provides the chemistry to make in possible to synthesize similar but simpler related molecular structures whose therapeutical use May be even greater than Ginkgo Flo a he said. Our role was the discovery Over the last x years Corey has directed Iho synthesis of More than 80 Complex Moto Cules including the Amity of hormone like chemicals known As Prosela Glandino. Some Are regularly used in treating circulatory disorders and Lor inducing abortion and labor. The Ajin theist of Ginkgo de b was reported in a recent Issue of the a Ownard. American chemical society. The Chei Nicol Structure of the natural substance had been discovered ear for by Koji Nakanshi a professor of chemistry at Columbia University. . Chen a professor of chemistry at the University of Virginia who specialize in research on herbal medicines said inn synthesis of Gink Guido b could Lead Loa new class of medicines. A said severs pharmaceutical companies were Vila lad in pursuing the research. Uke other scientists Chen emphasized that More research and clinical tests were needed to develop Ginkgo chemicals into scientifically approved medicines Page 16 the stars and stripes tuesday March 8,1988