α-arbutin prevents UVA-induced skin photodamage via alleviating DNA damage and collagen degradation in NIH-3T3 cells

Nan Zhao; Xin Nie; Yizhen Yan; Zhao Liu; Xueqing Chen; Peng Shu; Jiangming Zhong

doi:10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2025.113100

α-arbutin prevents UVA-induced skin photodamage via alleviating DNA damage and collagen degradation in NIH-3T3 cells

J Photochem Photobiol B. 2025 Jan 7:263:113100. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2025.113100. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nan Zhao¹, Xin Nie¹, Yizhen Yan¹, Zhao Liu¹, Xueqing Chen¹, Peng Shu², Jiangming Zhong³

Affiliations

¹ HBN Research Institute and Biological Laboratory, Shenzhen Hujia Technology Co., Ltd., 518000 Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China.
² HBN Research Institute and Biological Laboratory, Shenzhen Hujia Technology Co., Ltd., 518000 Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China. Electronic address: shupeng@hbn.cn.
³ HBN Research Institute and Biological Laboratory, Shenzhen Hujia Technology Co., Ltd., 518000 Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China. Electronic address: zhongjiangming@hbn.cn.

PMID: 39787978
DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2025.113100

Abstract

Ultraviolet radiation (UV) causes certain side effects to the skin, and their accumulation to a certain extent can lead to accelerated aging of the skin. Recent studies suggest that α-arbutin may be useful in various disorders such as hyperpigmentation disorders, wound healing, and antioxidant activity. However, the role of α-arbutin in skin photodamage is unclear. In this study, under UVA-induced photodamage conditions, α-arbutin treated mouse skin fibroblasts (NIH-3T3) can repair DNA damage and resist apoptosis by reducing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increasing the phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β) to orchestra AKT/GSK3β pathway. Meanwhile, α-arbutin can also regulate collagen metabolism and facilitate the replenishment of collagen by targeting the phosphorylation of SMAD3 to mediate the TGFβ/SMAD pathway in NIH-3T3. In conclusion, we found that α-arbutin can mitigate the detrimental effects of skin photodamage induced by UVA irradiation, and provides a theoretical basis for the use of α-arbutin in the treatment of skin photodamage.

Keywords: Collagen metabolism; DNA damage; Skin photodamage; UVA irradiation; α-Arbutin.