Moe Tsutsumi, Ph.D., at the Shiseido MIRAI Technology Institute, won the top award for the podium presentation at the 2021 Conference of the International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC), the world’s largest cosmetic science research conference, held online from Cancún, Mexico, between Monday, October 18 and Thursday, October 28, 2021.

Dr. Tsutsumi’s presentation, entitled "Skin beauty with gentle-touch-receptor Merkel cells-Restore your sense with a pleasant scent" was selected from among a total of 285 research reports presented at the conference (35 oral presentations, 250 poster presentations).

Outline of the Conference Award winning presentation:

Title of the awarded presentation: “Skin beauty with gentle-touch-receptor Merkel cells—Restore your sense with a pleasant scent”

Presenter: Moe Tsutsumi, Researcher, MIRAI Technology Institute, Shiseido

Content:
In collaboration with Monasterium Laboratory, we discovered that odorant receptors are expressed in Merkel cells, which mediate touch sensation, and demonstrated that these receptors are activated by a type of synthetic perfume which has sandalwood-like odor, using human skin culture systems and live cell-imaging of human skin. Moreover, we also found that peripheral nerves that are connected to Merkel cells and transmit touch sensation to the brain are also involved in maintaining the structure of the dermis associated with skin firmness and sagging. These discoveries suggest that Merkel cells can be activated by odorants, even in the absence of touch, and this mechanism has the potential to improve skin condition.

This is the 29th award for Shiseido (25 of which are Conference/Congress Awards) including those received at the "IFSCC Congress" held every other year, as well as those from the "IFSCC Conference" which is held in the year between the biennial Congress, making Shiseido the most awarded company among all cosmetic manufacturers in the world.

Shiseido aims to create new consumer values under its medium-to-long-term strategy, ‘WIN 2023 and Beyond.’ Leveraging the company’s globally highly acclaimed R&D capability to its fullest, Shiseido will continue to accept the challenge of creating groundbreaking innovations with the goal of ‘Be a Global Winner with Our Heritage’,” said the company in statement.