The anti-photoaging effect of C-phycocyanin on ultraviolet B-irradiated BALB/c-nu mouse skin

Yali Zhou; Renao Bai; Yifeng Huang; Weina Li; Jiana Chen; Zhiyun Cheng; Xunxun Wu; Yong Diao

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2023.1229387

The anti-photoaging effect of C-phycocyanin on ultraviolet B-irradiated BALB/c-nu mouse skin

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Aug 22:11:1229387. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1229387. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yali Zhou¹, Renao Bai^{1

2}, Yifeng Huang³, Weina Li³, Jiana Chen³, Zhiyun Cheng¹, Xunxun Wu¹, Yong Diao¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Science, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China.
² Shantou Polytechnic, Shantou, China.
³ Haixia Hospital Affiliated to Huaqiao University, Quanzhou, China.

Abstract

Introduction: C-phycocyanin (C-PC), a photosynthetic protein obtained from Spirulina, is regarded a highly promising commercially available biochemical. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have provided evidence of C-PC's ability to mitigate the inflammatory response, alleviate oxidative stress, and facilitate wound healing. However, despite the existing knowledge regarding C-PC's protective mechanism against cellular apoptosis induced by ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, further in vivo experiments are needed to explore its anti-photoaging mechanism. Methods: In this study, a UVB-induced skin photoaging model was established using BALB/c-nu mice, and the potential protective effects of topically administered c-PC were investigated by various molecular biology tools. In addition, a novel delivery system, C-PC nanodispersion, was developed to facilitate the transdermal delivery of C-PC. Results: C- PC demonstrated significant anti-photoaging activities in the UVB-induced skin. The application of C-PC to the dorsal skin of the mice resulted in improved macroscopic characteristics, such as reduced sagging and coarse wrinkling, under UVB irradiation Histological analyses showed that C-PC treatment significantly decreased the symptoms of epidermal thickening, prevented dermal collagen fiber loosening, increased the hydroxyproline (Hyp) content and activities of antioxidant enzymes (such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase) in mouse skin, decreased malondialdehyde levels and expressions of inflammatory factors (interleukin-1α [IL-1α], IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α), reduced matrix metalloproteinase [MMP-3 and MMP-9] expressions, and inhibited the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and p38 proteins in the mitogen-activated protein kinase family. Discussion: By analyzing the results of the study, a new drug delivery system, C-PC nano-dispersion, was proposed, and the anti-photoaging effect of C-PC and its mechanism were investigated.

Keywords: C-phycocyanin; nanodispersions; proinflammatory cytokines; skin photoaging; ultraviolet B.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grant number 2022C006R from the Science and the Technology Planning Projects of Quanzhou Municipal and grant number 2021FJYL007 from the Science and technology joint project of Fujian Pharmacological Society.