May 10, 2017

Mandom has successfully observed a three-dimensionalview of human sebaceous glands and has established aunique method to evaluate sebum secretion
Mandom Corporation (headquarters: Osaka City, President & CEO: Motonobu Nishimura; hereinafter referred toas “Mandom”), through the Laboratory of Advanced Cosmetic Science (joint-research course between Mandomand Osaka University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, hereafter referred to as “joint-research course”),
is engaging in research to develop a method that evaluates the sebaceous gland to design products that control
sebum secretion.
At this juncture, we have succeeded in isolating intact and observable sebaceous glands from human skin tissue(approved by an ethics review board) (Figure 1). By staining the sebaceous gland in an observable state, we haveelucidated the three-dimensional location of sebum within sebaceous glands (Figure 2). When treated with reagentsthat either promote or suppress sebum secretion and stained, sebum formation and suppression of sebum formation(Figure 3) were observed in the sebaceous glands.
Since these results may help to reveal the mechanism of sebum secretion and evaluate sebum secretion in a near-in
vivo state, we believe this can be applied to the development of products that excel in the control of sebum
secretion.
These results will be presented at the 116th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Dermatological Association(June 2 to 4, 2017).

1. Successful removal of sebaceous glands from human skin tissue
Obtaining human sebaceous glands in an observable state required their removal from the dermis. Studies todate used enzymes to sever the sebaceous glands from its surrounding tissues. However, the use of enzymesstrips and crumbles the outermost cells of the sebaceous glands. Therefore, by anatomically removing
subcutaneous tissues and dermal fibers from the back side of skin tissue, we succeeded in removing sebaceous
glands smoothly covered with outermost cells.

Contact

mandom corp.
Public Relations Div.
mail: press@mandom.co.jp

URL: https://www.mandom.co.jp/en/

Please contact us in Japanese or English.

-1-2. Successful three-dimensional observation of sebum location in human sebaceous glands
As an observation of human sebaceous glands was possible, glands were stained with reagents used to stain
sebum, and the state of sebum observed in the sebaceous glands. A three-dimensional view of the oil droplets ofsebum encapsulated in the sebaceous glands was observed. In addition, we observed that the cells located more
inward in the sebaceous glands contained greater amounts of sebum than cells toward the exterior.
3. Success in observing promotion and suppression of sebum secretion in human sebaceous glands
Using the impactful observation of the state of sebum in human sebaceous glands, we examined possible
changes that may occur to the state of sebum when glands were treated with existing sebum secretion-promoting
reagents or sebum secretion-suppressing reagents. Treatment with sebum secretion-promoting reagents resulted
in the formation of new oil droplets on the outermost cells of sebaceous glands, while treatment with sebum
secretion-suppressing reagent suppressed the formation of oil droplets.
The above results suggest that evaluations using human sebaceous glands would enable the identification ofsubstances that would suppress sebum.
Mandom will continue to advance its research on sebaceous glands to develop products that alleviate skin issues
such as acne and shine, that are related to sebum.

[Reference Material]
Figure 1. Sebaceous glands extracted from human skin tissue.

Epidermis

Sebaceous glands

DermisTrimming from subcutaneous side

Subcutaneoustissue

Sebaceous gland removed from skin tissueOutermost cells

Outermost cells

Sebaceous gland removed anatomically

Sebaceous gland removed using enzymes-2-

Figure 2. Observation of sebum in sebaceous glands.
Sebum; Outermost cells; Nucleus

Cross-section

Cross-section in opposite direction

Three-dimensional observationIncreasing
number of sebum
oil droplets
toward theinterior
Sebum Outermostcells Nucleus

Enlarged view

Figure 3. Observation of changes in sebaceous glands owing to the promotion/suppression of sebum secretion.
Treatment with an existing sebum
secretion-promoting reagent AOR
A and its inhibitor

Dotted line: Outermost layer of sebaceous gland

Sebum Outermost cells Nucleus

Staining and observation

Dotted line: Outermost layer of sebaceous gland

Sebum Outermost cells Nucleus

A + Its inhibitor

Secretion-promoting reagent A only

Outermost cells(No sebum formation)
Cells withsebum formation
Cells close to rupturing-3-