Nowogrodski Chen, Damatov Yaniv, Sapru Sunaina, Shoseyov Oded
Plant Molecular Biology and Nano Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
ACS Omega. 2023 Jul 5;8(30):26762-26774. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00189. eCollection 2023 Aug 1.
In humans, melanin plays an esthetic role, dictating hair and skin color and traits, while keratin is the protein that comprises most of the epidermis layer. Eumelanin and pheomelanin are types of melanin synthesized from the same building blocks via enzymatic oxidation. Pheomelanin has an additional building block, cysteine amino acid, which affects its final structure. Keratin contains high cysteine content, and by exploiting free thiols in hydrolyzed keratin, we demonstrate the formation of keratin-melanin (KerMel) chromophoric submicron particles. Cryo-TEM analyses found KerMel particle sizes to be 100-300 nm and arranged in the form of a central keratin particle with polymerized l-dopa chains. Attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR, UV-vis, and fluorescence measurements identified new chemical bonds, indicating the formation of KerMel particles. Finally, KerMel replicated natural skin tones and proved cytocompatibility for human epidermal keratinocytes at concentrations below 0.1 mg/mL. Taken together, KerMel is a novel, tunable material that has the potential to integrate into the cosmetic industry.
在人类中，黑色素发挥着美学作用，决定头发和皮肤的颜色及特征，而角蛋白是构成大部分表皮层的蛋白质。真黑素和褐黑素是通过酶促氧化由相同的构建块合成的黑色素类型。褐黑素还有一个额外的构建块，即半胱氨酸氨基酸，它会影响其最终结构。角蛋白含有高含量的半胱氨酸，通过利用水解角蛋白中的游离硫醇，我们证明了角蛋白 - 黑色素（KerMel）发色亚微米颗粒的形成。冷冻透射电子显微镜分析发现KerMel颗粒大小为100 - 300纳米，并以中央角蛋白颗粒与聚合的左旋多巴链的形式排列。衰减全反射（ATR）-傅里叶变换红外光谱、紫外可见光谱和荧光测量确定了新的化学键，表明KerMel颗粒的形成。最后，KerMel复制了自然肤色，并证明在浓度低于0.1毫克/毫升时对人表皮角质形成细胞具有细胞相容性。综上所述，KerMel是一种新型的、可调节的材料，有潜力融入化妆品行业。
