2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Prevention of photoaging by scavenging mitochondrial singlet oxygen

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24700762
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Applied health science
Research Institution	Nippon Medical School
Principal Investigator	WOLF Alexander 日本医科大学, 付置研究所, 講師 (20434136)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	光老化 / 老化 / 酸化ストレス / 皮膚 / skin / oxidative stress / aging
Research Abstract	Due to a high desire to look young and beautiful, cosmetics to slow down aging are a large market. Wrinkle formation has been attributed to UVA radiation. Using hairless transgenic mice expressing a redox-sensitive GFP (roGFP1) in the cytosol and in mitochondria of epidermal keratinocytese, we discovered that UVA induces oxidative stress in skin mitochondria but not cytosol. We used in vivo oxidative stress imaging to evaluate singlet oxygen scavengers. Topical application of carotenoids did not prevent UVA-induced oxidative stress. We assume this was due to poor permeation of the large carotenoids across the stratum corneum. However, a low molecular weight compound able to permeate the stratum corneum well could reduce the amount of oxidation induced by UVA relative to vehicle control. Future research will further investigate substances that can prevent UVA or visible light-induced oxidative stress by topical application to skin.