PULNOY, France—Small proteoglycans have a critical role to play in the fight against skin aging, according to an abstract from IFSCC (2008;11(1):21-29). Scientists from Laboratoires Serobiologiques, a division of Cognis, found significant decreases in two small proteoglycans—lumican and syndecan-1—in aging epidermis. They further report in vitro models show two synthetic acetyl tetrapeptides could stimulate the synthesis of those small proteoglycans, benefiting skin thickness, firmness and epidermal cohesion.