Abstract
Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a main extrinsic factor for skin aging. Chronic exposure of the skin to UV radiation causes the induction of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), such as MMP-1, and consequently results in alterations of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and skin photoaging. Flavonoids are considered as potent anti-photoaging agents due to their UV-absorbing and antioxidant properties and inhibitory activity against UV-mediated MMP induction. To identify anti-photoaging agents, in the present study we examined the preventative effect of methoxyflavonoids, such as sakuranetin, isosakuranetin, homoeriodictyol, genkwanin, chrysoeriol and syringetin, on UV-B-induced skin photo-damage. Of the examined methoxyflavonoids, pretreatment with isosakuranetin strongly suppressed the UV-B-mediated induction of MMP-1 in human keratinocytes in a concentration-dependent manner. Isosakuranetin inhibited UV-B-induced phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling components, ERK1/2, JNK1/2 and p38 proteins. This result suggests that the ERK1/2 kinase pathways likely contribute to the inhibitory effects of isosakuranetin on UV-induced MMP-1 production in human keratinocytes. Isosakuranetin also prevented UV-B-induced degradation of type-1 collagen in human dermal fibroblast cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that isosakuranetin has the potential for development as a protective agent for skin photoaging through the inhibition of UV-induced MMP-1 production and collagen degradation.