Acta Pharm. 67 (2017) 257-264

 

full paper

Short communication

 

Porphyra-334, a mycosporine-like amino acid, attenuates UV-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cells

SUNG-SUK SUH, SE KYUNG OH, SUNG GU LEE, IL-CHAN KIM and SANGHEE KIM

sung-suk.suh@kopri.re.kr

1 Division of Polar Life Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, 21990, Republic of Korea

2 Department of Polar Science, University of Science and Technology, Incheon, 21990, Republic of Korea

Accepted January 13, 2017

Published online March 15, 2017

 

The main aim of the current research was to study the effect of porphyra-334, one of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), well known as UV-absorbing compounds, on UV-induced apoptosis in human immortalized keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells. Due to their UV-screening capacity and ability to prevent UV-induced DNA damage, MAAs have recently attracted considerable attention in both industry and research in pharmacology. Herein, human HaCaT cells were used to determine the biological activities of porphyra-334 by various in vitro assays, including proliferation, apoptosis and Western blot assays. The proliferation rate of UV-irradiated HaCaT cells was significantly decreased compared to the control group. Pretreatment with porphyra-334 markedly attenuated the inhibitory effect of UV and induced a dramatic decrease in the apoptotic rate. Expression of active caspase-3 protein was increased in response to UV irradiation, while caspase-3 levels were similar between cells treated with porphyra-334 and the non-irradiated control group. Taken together, our data suggest that porphyra-334 inhibits UV-induced apoptosis in HaCaT cells through attenuation of the caspase pathway.

 

Keywords: porphyra-334, apoptosis, cell proliferation, UV irradiation, HaCaT cells