Redox regulation of cellular stress response by ferulic acid ethyl ester in human dermal fibroblasts: role of vitagenes

Calabrese, Vittorio; Calafato, Stella; Puleo, Eduardo; Cornelius, Carolin; Sapienza, Maria; Morganti, Pierfrancesco; Mancuso, Cesare

doi:10.1016/j.clindermatol.2008.01.005

« Previous Next »Clinics in Dermatology
Volume 26, Issue 4 , Pages 358-363, July 2008

Redox regulation of cellular stress response by ferulic acid ethyl ester in human dermal fibroblasts: role of vitagenes☆

Vittorio Calabrese, MD, PhD
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy
- Corresponding authors. Vittorio Calabrese is to be contacted at Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. Pierfrancesco Morganti, Mavi Sud srl, Viale Dell’industria 1, 04011 Aprilia (LT), Italy.
Stella Calafato, MD
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy
Eduardo Puleo, PhD
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy
Carolin Cornelius, PhD
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy
Maria Sapienza, PhD
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy
Pierfrancesco Morganti, MD, PhD
- Applied Cosmetic Dermatology, II University of Naples, Naples, Italy
- Skin Pharmacology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
- Mavi Sud srl, Viale Dell'industria 1, 04011 Aprilia (LT), Italy
- Corresponding authors. Vittorio Calabrese is to be contacted at Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. Pierfrancesco Morganti, Mavi Sud srl, Viale Dell’industria 1, 04011 Aprilia (LT), Italy.
Cesare Mancuso, MD, PhD
- Institute of Pharmacology, Catholic University School of Medicine, 00168 Roma, Italy

Abstract

Skin is one of the main targets for reactive oxygen species; thus, reactive oxygen species-induced damage and protein and lipid modifications occur, and skin can undergo a wide array of diseases, from photosensitivity to cancer. In this study, human dermal fibroblasts exposed to hydrogen peroxide (0–1000 μmol/L) exhibited a marked increase in both protein carbonyls and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, which are indices of protein and lipid oxidation, respectively. An amount of 25 μmol/L ferulic acid ethyl ester, a well-known nutritional antioxidant, significantly counteracted both protein and lipid oxidation and reduced the loss in cell viability elicited by 500 μmol/L of hydrogen peroxide. A common way for cells to react to oxidative stress is up-regulation of vitagenes. To the vitagene family belong the heat shock proteins heme oxygenase-1 and heat shock protein-70, which are involved in the cellular defense against oxidative stress by different mechanisms. The administration of 25 μmol/L ferulic acid ethyl ester significantly decreased hydrogen peroxide-induced protein and lipid oxidation. Dermal fibroblasts exposed to 25 μmol/L ferulic acid ethyl ester in the presence of 500 μmol/L hydrogen peroxide showed an increased level of both heme oxygenase-1 and heat shock protein-70 compared with dermal fibroblasts treated with hydrogen peroxide alone. These findings provide evidence for the protective role of vitagenes in free radical-induced skin damage and highlight the potential protective use of nutritional antioxidants, such as ferulic acid and its derivatives.