Researchers from Northwestern University have created a synthetic melanin cream that protects and heals skin from sun and environmental damage by eliminating free radicals. It has potential applications in sun protection, wound healing, and as a defense against environmental toxins, with clinical trials imminent. Above shows inflamed skin Free radicals (green) in the skin. ROS are “reactive oxygen species” or free radicals. Credit: Yu Chen, Northwestern University
Synthetic creams also provide protection to the skin from sun damage.
Imagine a skin cream that addresses the damage caused by daily sun exposure and environmental toxins. Scientists at Northwestern University have developed synthetic melanin with the ability to do just that.
This synthetic melanin, designed to mimic human skin’s natural melanin, has been shown to speed wound healing when applied topically to affected skin. These effects occur on the skin itself and systemically throughout the body.
Scientists say that when applied in cream form, synthetic melanin can protect skin from sun exposure and heal skin damaged by sun or chemical burns. This technique works by removing free radicals produced by injured skin, such as sunburn. Allowing free radical activity to go uncontrolled will damage cells and can ultimately lead to skin aging and skin cancer.
The study was recently published in the journal regenerative medicine npj.
Melanin found in humans and animals provides pigmentation to the skin, eyes, and hair. This ingredient protects your cells from sun damage while increasing pigmentation in response to sunlight – a process commonly called tanning. The same pigments in your skin naturally eliminate free radicals in response to harmful environmental pollution from industrial sources and car exhaust fumes.
“People don’t think of their daily lives as an injury to their skin,” said co-author Dr. Kurt Lo, Eugene and Gloria Bauer Professor of Dermatology at the University of Eugene. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and dermatologist at Northwestern Medicine. “If you walk around naked every day in the sun, you will be bombarded with constant low-level UV rays. This is exacerbated during peak daytime hours and summer. We know that skin exposed to sunlight ages compared to skin protected by sunlight. clothes, which don’t show nearly as much aging.
B-roll from the dermatology laboratory of study author Dr. Kurt Lo. Credit: Northwestern University
Skin also ages due to aging and external environmental factors, including environmental pollution.
“All of these skin disorders give rise to free radicals that cause inflammation and break down collagen,” says Lu. “This is one reason why aging skin looks so different from younger skin.”
When scientists created synthetic nanoparticles engineered with melanin, they modified the structure of the melanin to have a higher ability to scavenge free radicals.
Artificial melanin is applied topically to inflamed skin. Just below the surface of the skin are green free radicals, also known as ROS, or “reactive oxygen species.” Credit: Yu Chen, Northwestern University
“Synthetic melanin is able to remove more radicals per gram than human melanin,” said co-author Nathan Giannishi, professor of chemistry, materials science and engineering, biomedical engineering and pharmacology at Northwestern University. “It’s like super melanin. It is biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic and clear when rubbed on the skin. In our research, it acted as an effective sponge, removing harmful substances and protecting the skin.”
Once applied to the skin, melanin remains on the surface and is not absorbed into the layers below.
“Synthetic melanin stabilizes the skin and puts it on a path to healing, which we see in the upper layers and throughout the body,” Giannishi says.
Moving on to a new theory
Scientists, who have studied melanin for nearly 10 years, first tested synthetic melanin as a sunscreen.
“It protects the skin and skin cells from damage,” says Giannici. “Next, we wondered whether synthetic melanin, which functions primarily as a radical absorber, could be applied topically after skin injury and have a healing effect on the skin? It turns out it works exactly like that.”
Lu envisions the synthetic melanin cream will be used as a sunscreen booster for added protection and as a moisturizer booster to promote skin repair.
Illustration of a synthetic layer of melanin over inflamed skin. Credit: Yu Chen, Northwestern University
“You can wear it before leaving the house and after sunbathing,” says Lu. “In both cases, we showed a reduction in skin damage and inflammation. You protect and repair your skin at the same time. This is continuous improvement.”
The cream can also be used to treat abrasions and open wounds, Lu says.
Topical cream that soothes the immune system
Giannishi and Lu found that synthetic melanin cream, by absorbing free radicals after injury, calmed the immune system. The stratum corneum, the outer layer of mature skin cells, communicates with the underlying epidermis. This is the surface layer that receives signals from the body and the outside world. By calming the destructive inflammation on these surfaces, the body can begin to heal and not become more inflamed.
“The skin and upper layers communicate with the rest of the body,” says Lu. “This means stabilizing those upper layers can lead to an active healing process.”
How did the experiment work?
The scientists used chemicals to cause a violent reaction to human skin tissue samples in the dish. Boils appear when the top layers of skin separate from each other.
“It was very inflammatory, like a poison ivy reaction,” Law said.
The skin is now recovering after being treated with artificial melanin. Inflamed skin. Credit: Yu Chen, Northwestern University
Wait a few hours, then apply topical melanin cream to the affected skin. During the first few days, the cream facilitates the immune response by first helping to restore free radical-killing enzymes in the skin, and then by stopping the production of inflammatory proteins. This started a series of responses where they observed a significant increase in recovery rates. Including maintaining the health of the skin layer beneath it. In samples not treated with melanin cream, the boils remained.
“This treatment has the effect of putting the skin on a cycle of healing and repair, which is regulated by the immune system,” says Lu.
Melanin can protect humans from toxins including nerve gas
Giannici and Lo studied melanin as part of a research program funded by the US Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Institutes of Health. This includes viewing melanin as a clothing pigment that also acts as an absorber of toxins in the environment, particularly nerve gas. They showed that they could dye military uniforms black with melanin, and could absorb nerve gas.
Melanin also absorbs heavy metals and toxins. “While it may work naturally, we designed it to increase the absorption of this toxic molecule with our synthetic version,” Giannishi said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfjDf_DWDNC
B-roll of a chemistry lab by study author Nathan Giannishi. Credit: Northwestern University
Scientists are conducting clinical translation and effectiveness trials of synthetic melanin creams. As a first step, scientists recently completed experiments showing that synthetic melanin does not cause irritation to human skin.
Because they have observed that melanin protects biological tissue from high-energy radiation, they believe it could be an effective treatment for skin burns caused by radiation exposure.
This promising research may provide future treatment options for cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.
Reference: “Topical Application of Synthetic Melanin Enhances Tissue Repair” by Dauren Biyashev, Zofia E. Siwicka, Ummiye V. Onay, Michael Demczuk, Dan Xu, Madison K. Ernst, Spencer T. Evans, Cuong V. Nguyen, Florencia A. Nak , Navjeet K. Paul, Naniki C. McCallum, Omar K. Joy, Stephen D. Miller, Nathan C. Giannishi and Kurt Q. Low, November 2, 2023, npj regenerative medicine.
two: 10.1038/s41536-023-00331-1
Other Northwestern authors include: Doreen Biashev, Zofia Siwicka, Omi Onai, Michael Demchuk, Madison Ernst, Spencer Evans, Cuong Nguyen, Florencia Son, Navjit Paul, Naniki McCallum, Omar Farha, Stephen Miller and Dan Shaw.
This research was supported by grant U54 AR079795 from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health and grant FA9550-18-1-0142 from the Department of Defense.
2023-11-07 06:24:31
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