Soy Amino-Peptides (INCI: Glycine Soja Protein)

The wild soybean (Glycine soja) is part of the legume plant, and the wild ancestor to the modern soybean used in many food preparations today. Protein peptides from the wild soybean are useful in skincare formulas as plant-based proteinase inhibitors. Proteinases (also termed protease or peptidase) are enzymes in the skin that break down bonds between proteins and peptides, usually splitting them into smaller amino acid factions. Because collagen is a protein, these enzymes have a direct relationship to the integrity of the skin's supportive network that keeps wrinkles from forming. Inhibiting the formation and actions of such enzymes diminishes the rate by which collagen is broken down in the skin, thereby strengthening and thickening the overall collagen network that keeps skin tight.

Various biochemical systems maintain the integrity of the skin with well-defined interactions between cells to correct disturbances in homeostasis (such disturbances are known as proteolytic reaction cascades). When the skin is functioning optimally, there is a balance between proteinases and the specific inhibitors that regulate them, thus maintaining homeostasis in which collagen/elastin is regenerated at approximately the same rate that it is broken down. With age, though, there are disturbances in this balance that are caused by free radical damage, UV damage, and environmental stress. This results in the accumulation of leukocyte white blood cells. Stimulated leukocytes release large amounts proteinases, specifically elastase, to their membrane surface and into their surrounding extracellular fluid. When uncontrolled, elastase is very destructive and can attack connective tissue proteins (specifically collagen/elastin). Research has demonstrated that protein peptides from soy interrupts this degenerative process by inhibiting the formation and release of these proteinases, including elastase, to protect the collagen/elastin network from degradation, allowing it to be repaired over time by the skin's regenerative abilities. This culminates into a visual correction of sagging and wrinkles in the face and neck.