Protective effect of tropical highland blackberry juice (Rubus adenotrichos Schltdl.) against UVB-mediated damage in human epidermal keratinocytes and in a reconstituted skin equivalent model

Laura Calvo-Castro, Deeba N. Syed, Jean C. Chamcheu, Fernanda M.P. Vilela, Ana M. Pérez, Fabrice Vaillant, Miguel Rojas, Hasan Mukhtar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, particularly its UVB (280-320 nm) spectrum, is the primary environmental stimulus leading to skin carcinogenesis. Several botanical species with antioxidant properties have shown photochemopreventive effects against UVB damage. Costa Rica's tropical highland blackberry (Rubus adenotrichos) contains important levels of phenolic compounds, mainly ellagitannins and anthocyanins, with strong antioxidant properties. In this study, we examined the photochemopreventive effect of R. adenotrichos blackberry juice (BBJ) on UVB-mediated responses in human epidermal keratinocytes and in a three-dimensional (3D) reconstituted normal human skin equivalent (SE). Pretreatment (2 h) and posttreatment (24 h) of normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) with BBJ reduced UVB (25 mJ cm -2)-mediated (1) cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and (2) 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) formation. Furthermore, treatment of NHEKs with BBJ increased UVB-mediated (1) poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and (2) activation of caspases 3, 8 and 9. Thus, BBJ seems to alleviate UVB-induced effects by reducing DNA damage and increasing apoptosis of damaged cells. To establish the in vivo significance of these findings to human skin, immunohistochemistry studies were performed in a 3D SE model, where BBJ was also found to decrease CPDs formation. These data suggest that BBJ may be developed as an agent to ameliorate UV-induced skin damage. Blackberry juice (BBJ) protected in vitro cell cultures and skin equivalents against UVB-induced damage. Treatment with BBJ reduced CPDs and 8-oxodGs in UVB-irradiated epidermal cells, potentially suppressing the initiating carcinogenic stimuli. BBJ treatment also enhanced apoptosis of UVB-damaged cells, potentially preventing carcinogenesis by stopping the progression of cells that might have genotoxic damage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1199-1207
Number of pages9
JournalPhotochemistry and Photobiology
Volume89
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2013

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