A highly absorbable peptide GLPY derived from elastin protect fibroblasts against UV damage via suppressing Ca2+ influx and ameliorating the loss of collagen and elastin

Optimization of enzymatic production of anti-skin aging biopeptides from white sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench] grain

Recently, kafirins from white sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench] grain have shown promise as a source of biopeptides with anti-skin aging effects (anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and inhibition of photoaging-associated enzymes). This study employed response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize the extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis of kafirins (KAF) for the production of peptides with anti-skin aging properties. The optimization of conditions (reaction time and enzyme/substrate ratio) for liquefaction with α-amylase and hydrolysis of KAF with alcalase was performed using 32 complete factorial designs. Subsequently, ultrafiltered peptide extracts were obtained with molecular weights of 1-3 kDa (KAF-UF3) and lower than 1 kDa (KAF-UF1), which mainly contain hydrophobic amino acids (proline, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and valine) and peptide fractions with molecular weights of 0.69, 1.14, and 1.87 kDa. Consequently, the peptide extracts protected immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) from ultraviolet B radiation (UVB)-induced damage by preventing the decrease and/or restoring the activity of antioxidant enzymes [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px)]. Furthermore, KAF-UF3 and KAF-UF1 inhibited (20-29%) elastase and collagenase overactivity in UVB-exposed murine fibroblasts (3T3 cells). Thus, KAF-UF3 and KAF-UF1 exhibited behavior similar to that observed with glutathione (GSH), suggesting their potential as functional peptide ingredients in skincare products.

Biocompatible recombinant type III collagen enhancing skin repair and anti-wrinkle effects

Treating sunburn and other UV-induced skin damage issues remains a significant challenge in the field of dermatology. In this study, we synthesized a highly bioactive recombinant type III collagen (rCol III) to accelerate the healing of UV-damaged skin. The high-purity rCol III demonstrated excellent biocompatibility and bioactivity, significantly promoting the adhesion, proliferation, and migration of HFF-1 cells. In a mouse UV-damage model, Combo evaluations demonstrated that rCol III contributed to restore transepidermal water loss (TEWL) values of UV-damaged skin to normal levels. Histological analysis further confirmed that rCol III substantially accelerated skin repair by enhancing collagen regeneration. Additionally, rCol III facilitated the regeneration of zebrafish tail fin tissue and alleviated shrinkage caused by excessive UV exposure. The biocompatible and bioactive rCol III offers a novel strategy for treating UV-induced skin damage, holding immense potential for applications in skin tissue engineering.

Transdermal delivery of elastin peptide assisted by betaine-based deep eutectic solvent to ameliorate skin photoaging

The unique amino acid composition of elastin peptide (EP) makes it an excellent resource to obtain antioxidant peptides. It exhibits high elastase inhibitory activity with the potential to resist skin aging and is currently used in a many cosmetic products. However, the inherent low permeability of the skin limits its ability to penetrate the skin. To address this issue, a deep eutectic solvent (SAB) with excellent bioactivity was synthesized from betaine and succinic acid and used as a permeation enhancer to improve the absorption and utilization of EP in this paper. The results showed that low SAB concentrations significantly increased the transdermal delivery of EP. The 3D epidermal skin model (EpiKutis®) demonstrated that SAB/EP induced the synthesis of hyaluronic acid (HA) and filaggrin (FLG), accelerated skin barrier repair, and reduced water loss. Additionally, the zebrafish embryonic model showed that SAB/EP could reduce melanin secretion, decrease melanin deposition, and have an ameliorative effect on skin photoaging. Cellular experiments proved that SAB/EP can stimulate human skin fibroblasts to secrete procollagen I and elastin, improving skin elasticity and anti-wrinkle. The combination of EP and DES is a new attempt that is expected to be used as a safe and effective anti-wrinkle cosmetic material.

Resource Utilization of Bovine Neck Ligament: Enzymatic Preparation of Elastin Peptide and Its Antioxidant Activity

Elastin is considered an excellent resource for obtaining antioxidant peptides due to unique amino acid composition. However, it is hardly soluble in water or in dilute acid or alkali; most of the elastases have low yields for preparing elastin peptides, making it difficult to meet industrial applications. To address above problems, enzymes capable of hydrolyzing elastin into soluble peptides were preferred from typical commercial protease preparations. The optimal enzymatic hydrolysis process conditions for elastin peptides were obtained by response surface optimization design. The molecular weight, amino acid composition, and antioxidant activity of the enzymatic hydrolysis products were determined. The results show that the alkaline protease NUE has a strong hydrolysis effect. The optimized enzymatic hydrolysis conditions are as follows: substrate concentration is 5%, enzyme concentration is 650 U/mL, pH is 10.0, temperature is 60 °C, time is 6 h. The degree of hydrolysis of elastic protein peptides obtained through this method is 14.42%. The distribution of molecular weight is 200-6500 Da, more than 85% of the component molecular amount is greater than 800 Da; the amino acid content related to antioxidant activity has reached 68 mg/100 mg, so it has extremely high free radical clearance. Compared with acid and alkali methods, the anti-oxidation capacity of enzyme-based peptide is better, the reaction conditions are milder, the yield is higher, and by-products and pollutants are fewer. It provides an effective way to industrialized production of elastin peptides with high antioxidant activity and a basis for its widespread application in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Elastin-inspired supramolecular hydrogels: a multifaceted extracellular matrix protein in biomedical engineering

The phenomenal advancement in regenerative medicines has led to the development of bioinspired materials to fabricate a biomimetic artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) to support cellular survival, proliferation, and differentiation. Researchers have diligently developed protein polymers consisting of functional sequences of amino acids evolved in nature. Nowadays, certain repetitive bioinspired polymers are treated as an alternative to synthetic polymers due to their unique properties like biodegradability, easy scale-up, biocompatibility, and non-covalent molecular associations which imparts tunable supramolecular architecture to these materials. In this direction, elastin has been identified as a potential scaffold that renders extensibility and elasticity to the tissues. Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are artificial repetitive polymers that exhibit lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior in a particular environment than synthetic polymers and hence have gained extensive interest in the fabrication of stimuli-responsive biomaterials. This review discusses in detail the unique structural aspects of the elastin and its soluble precursor, tropoelastin. Furthermore, the versatility of elastin-like peptides is discussed through numerous examples that bolster the significance of elastin in the field of regenerative medicines such as wound care, cardiac tissue engineering, ocular disorders, bone tissue regeneration, etc. Finally, the review highlights the importance of exploring short elastin-mimetic peptides to recapitulate the structural and functional aspects of elastin for advanced healthcare applications.