Purpose of review: Educate the reader of the multiple roles undertaken by the human epidermal lipidome and the experimental techniques of measuring them.
Recent findings: Damage to skin elicits a wound healing process that is capped by the recreation of the lipid barrier. In addition to barrier function, lipids also undertake an active signaling role during wound healing. Achievement of these multiple functions necessitates a significant complexity and diversity in the lipidome resulting in a composition that is unique to the human skin. As such, any attempts to delineate the function of the lipidome during the wound healing process in humans need to be addressed via studies undertaken in humans.
Summary: The human cutaneous lipidome is unique and play a functionally significant role in maintaining barrier and regulating wound healing. Modern mass spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy based methods enable the investigation epidermal lipidome with respect to those functions.
Keywords: analytical methods; bioactive lipids; human; sampling techniques; wound healing.