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Nano Research 2022, 15(9): 8237-8246 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4434-z
Research Article | Issue | Published: 19 May 2022

Propolis inspired sunscreens for efficient UV-protection and skin barrier maintenance

Show Author's Information Yu Fu1,§,  Ruoyu Wan2,§,  Lei Yang1,  Lidan Xiong2,3,  Junfei Hu1,  Jie Tang2,3,  Hailun He2,  Zhipeng Gu1( ),  Li Li2,3( ),  Yiwen Li1,3( )
College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Cosmetics Safety and Efficacy Evaluation Center, Department of Dermatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
NMPA Key Laboratory for Human Evaluation and Big Data of Cosmetics, Chengdu 610041, China

§ Yu Fu and Ruoyu Wan contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
bioinspired, composite hydrogel, sunscreen, ultraviolet protection
Topics:
Biotechnology
Cite this article:
Fu Y, Wan R, Yang L, et al. Propolis inspired sunscreens for efficient UV-protection and skin barrier maintenance. Nano Research, 2022, 15(9): 8237-8246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4434-z
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

The direct use of naturally occurring, small molecular ingredients in bioinspired sunscreens has raised several concerns due to the instability, photocytotoxicity, and potential blood toxicity of those ingredients. In this work, we have employed natural ultraviolet (UV)-blocking molecule caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) from propolis to prepare poly(CAPE) nanoparticles (NPs) as the main bioactive ingredient to fabricate propolis-inspired hydrogel sunscreens. Compared with small molecular CAPE, poly(CAPE) NPs exhibited better dispersion and stability in water, as well as lower physiological toxicity and skin permeability. And the resulting composite hydrogels demonstrated promising properties including water-resistant whereas can be easily erased by warm water as well as safety when interacting with skin. More importantly, the hydrogel sunscreens showed excellent UV protection properties both in vitro and in vivo, and the positive effects in maintaining skin barrier functions. This work provides new strategies towards the facile construction of nature-inspired robust sunscreens in the future.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Propolis inspired sunscreens for efficient UV-protection and skin barrier maintenance

Show Author's information Yu Fu1,§, Ruoyu Wan2,§, Lei Yang1, Lidan Xiong2,3, Junfei Hu1, Jie Tang2,3, Hailun He2, Zhipeng Gu1( ),  Li Li2,3( ), Yiwen Li1,3( )
College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
Cosmetics Safety and Efficacy Evaluation Center, Department of Dermatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
NMPA Key Laboratory for Human Evaluation and Big Data of Cosmetics, Chengdu 610041, China

§ Yu Fu and Ruoyu Wan contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

The direct use of naturally occurring, small molecular ingredients in bioinspired sunscreens has raised several concerns due to the instability, photocytotoxicity, and potential blood toxicity of those ingredients. In this work, we have employed natural ultraviolet (UV)-blocking molecule caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) from propolis to prepare poly(CAPE) nanoparticles (NPs) as the main bioactive ingredient to fabricate propolis-inspired hydrogel sunscreens. Compared with small molecular CAPE, poly(CAPE) NPs exhibited better dispersion and stability in water, as well as lower physiological toxicity and skin permeability. And the resulting composite hydrogels demonstrated promising properties including water-resistant whereas can be easily erased by warm water as well as safety when interacting with skin. More importantly, the hydrogel sunscreens showed excellent UV protection properties both in vitro and in vivo, and the positive effects in maintaining skin barrier functions. This work provides new strategies towards the facile construction of nature-inspired robust sunscreens in the future.

Keywords: bioinspired, composite hydrogel, sunscreen, ultraviolet protection

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 26 March 2022
Revised: 13 April 2022
Accepted: 14 April 2022
Published: 19 May 2022
Issue date: September 2022

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52173132 and 81673084), 1.3.5 project for disciplines of excellence, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, the Research Fund from Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, Soochow University (No. KJS2116), and the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities.

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