Molecular basis of skin photoaging and therapeutic interventions by plant-derived natural product ingredients: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Skin areas exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UV) from sunlight are more prone to photoaging than unexposed areas evidenced by several signs which include skin dryness, irregular pigmentation, lentigines, hyperpigmentation, wrinkling, and decreased elasticity. Plant-based natural product ingredients with therapeutic potential against skin photoaging are gaining more attention. This article aims the reviewing the research work done in exploring the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in UV-induced skin photoaging, followed by summarizing the mechanistic insights involved in its therapeutics by natural product-based ingredients. In the mechanistic section of the convoluted procedure of photoaging, we described the effect of UV radiation (UVR) on different cellular macromolecules (direct damage) and subsequently, the deleterious consequences of UVR-generated reactive oxygen species (indirect damage) and signaling pathways activated or inhibited by UV induced ROS generation in various cellular pathologies of skin photoaging like inflammation, extracellular matrix degradation, apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, and immune suppression. We also discussed the effect of UV radiation on the adipose tissue, and transient receptor potential cation channel V of photoaging skin. In the past few decades, mechanistic studies performed in this area have deciphered various therapeutic targets, opening avenues for different available therapeutic options against this pathological condition. So the remaining portion of the review deals with various natural product-based therapeutic agents available against skin photodamage.

Keywords: Molecular mechanism; Natural products; Photoaging; Skin; Ultraviolet radiations.

Fig. 1

Potential mechanism of skin photoageing. UV -irradiation affect the Skin fibroblasts and keratinocytes by various different mechanisms. (1) Direct DNA damage (2) Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) generation (3) Direct protein damage.

Fig. 2

Describes the signaling pathways responsible for UV-A/B response in skin cells. This figure describes the various signaling pathways and their important protein markers responsible for UV-A/B -induced pathologies in skin cells like inflammation, Extracellular matrix degradation and apoptosis.