Self-Assembled pH-Responsive Metal-Organic Frameworks for Enhancing the Encapsulation and Anti-Oxidation and Melanogenesis Inhibition Activities of Glabridin

Liang Chen; Zexun Liu; Xinying Zhao; Linying Liu; Xiulan Xin; Hao Liang

doi:10.3390/molecules27123908

Self-Assembled pH-Responsive Metal-Organic Frameworks for Enhancing the Encapsulation and Anti-Oxidation and Melanogenesis Inhibition Activities of Glabridin

Molecules. 2022 Jun 18;27(12):3908. doi: 10.3390/molecules27123908.

Authors

Liang Chen¹, Zexun Liu², Xinying Zhao¹, Linying Liu¹, Xiulan Xin¹, Hao Liang^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ College of Bioengineering, Beijing Polytechnic, Beijing 100176, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
³ Qinhuangdao Bohai Biological Research Institute, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Qinhuangdao 066000, China.

Abstract

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are formed by self-assembly of metal ions and organic ligands. A special type of MOF called ZIF-8, which is formed by self-assembly of zinc ions and 2-methylimidazole, shows excellent stability in aqueous solutions and disintegrates under acidic conditions. These properties make ZIF-8 a suitable carrier material for pH-stimulated drug delivery systems. Glabridin is an isoflavane compound that is widely present in the roots of licorice. Because of its outstanding skin whitening properties, glabridin is widely used as a whitener in the cosmetics industry. In this study, ZIF-8 was employed to encapsulate glabridin. Glabridin-loaded ZIF-8 was successfully prepared with a drug encapsulation efficiency of 98.67%. The prepared sample showed a fusiform or cruciate flower-like structure, and its size was about 3 μm. ZIF-8 enabled pH-controlled release of glabridin. Moreover, ZIF-8 encapsulation significantly enhanced the intracellular anti-oxidant activity and melanogenesis inhibitory activity of glabridin. This study provides a new approach that shows great potential to improve the biological application of glabridin.

Keywords: anti-oxidation; encapsulation; glabridin; melanogenesis inhibition; metal organic frameworks (MOFs); pH-controlled release; self-assembly.

MeSH terms

Drug Delivery Systems
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Isoflavones
Metal-Organic Frameworks* / chemistry
Metal-Organic Frameworks* / pharmacology
Phenols / pharmacology

Substances

Isoflavones
Metal-Organic Frameworks
Phenols
glabridin

Grants and funding

The authors acknowledge funding from the Major Science and Technology Program of Beijing Polytechnic (2021Z009-KXZ) and Research on national reference material and product development of natural products (SG030801), the Construction of High-level Teachers in Beijing Municipal Colleges and Universities (2019)-Youth Talent-Chen Liang (CIT&TCD 201904047), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21878014 and 22078014), and the Hebei Key Research and Development Project (20372508D) for financial support.