A novel functional peptide, named EQ-9 (ESETRILLQ), identified by virtual screening from regenerative cell secretome and its potential anti-aging and restoration effects in topical applications.

Skin aging refers to a degenerative process that can be affected and regulated by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The mesenchymal stem cell secretome covers a considerable number of regenerative molecules with anti-aging effects in a wide variety of circumstances. However, it is complex, time-consuming, and costly to identify specific compounds from thousands of natural molecules using conventional methods. With the development of computational biology and machine learning, an efficient workflow was generated to identify novel peptides with anti-aging and skin restoration potential. One of the candidate peptides was discovered and subsequently truncated to a novel peptide named EQ-9, with promising anti-aging effects for topical applications at a concentration of 10 ppm validated by experimental validation. The above-described paradigm is expected to be further applied to the virtual screening of novel peptide molecules targeting specific biological functions from a wide variety of natural resources.