Heat acclimation delays skin maturation

This proposed hypothesis asks whether repeated heat exposure can leave human skin vulnerable to washing and wet friction even as heat acclimation improves cooling. The proposed mechanism concerns the epidermis, skin’s outer protective layer. Repeated heating may keep heat shock protein B1, a stress-response protein, attached longer to actin, the cell’s support framework. That could delay processing of filaggrin, a protein needed for the outer barrier, and cornification, the final maturation of surface cells. A rival idea predicts that dividing a continuous contact region into isolated islands would relieve residual deformation immediately. Human epidermis models can distinguish these predictions.