Míriam Mateu, Cristina Davi, Elena Cañadas, Albert Soley, Raquel Delgado – Lipotec, Spain
MARINE INGREDIENTS
Effective ingredients from marine biotechnology
Cosmetic scientists are developing new ways to identify new natural sources, which enable innovative compounds with excellent cosmetic properties such as firming, restructuring, moisturising or anti- wrinkles. Biotechnology encompasses the use of microorganisms to come up with novel active ingredients that fulfil two of the demands that are leading trends in the cosmetic industry: natural and sustainable. Besides, complex molecules can be obtained, which otherwise would be impossible due to technical or economic limitations. Our approach is to take advantage of biotechnology to develop cosmetic ingredients which are naturally occurring in non-genetically modified organisms, through sustainable production while preserving the environment, since there is no harvesting nor extracting from nature.
Intertidal rocky shores are highly dynamic systems that are exposed to a combination of harsh factors, such as wave action, thermal and desiccation stress, UV exposure and nutrient depletion. The relative frequency of these fluctuations poses both physical and biochemical challenges to microorganisms that live in such environments.1
As a consequence,
these intertidal inhabitants have developed several activities to protect themselves. Marine bacterial strains with different physiological and biochemical characteristics can produce exopolysaccharides (EPS) to protect themselves against the environmental stressors. Many of these EPSs present unique properties, and the search for new EPS-producing microorganisms is still promising.3
Organisms that inhabit intertidal areas suffer from desiccation when the tide recedes. The removal of water from cells, the storage of cells in the air-dried state, and the rewetting of air-dried cells impose physiological constraints that few organisms can tolerate. The removal of water molecules can cause mild, moderate, severe or extreme water deficit, depending on the quantity removed.2
Desiccation appears to induce the production of 120 100 80 60 60 40 40 20 0 0 20
■ Hyaluronic acid ■ Pseudoalteromonas expolysaccharides
100 80 0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 Time (min)
Figure 1: DVS profile of pseudoalteromonas exopolysaccharides compared to hyaluronic acid.
copious amounts of microbial EPS, presumably of a highly hygroscopic nature. Hyadisine (INCI name:
Pseudoalteromonas Exopolysaccharides) is an exopolysaccharide obtained through biotechnology by fermentation of a marine bacterial strain that belongs to the genus Pseudoalteromonas sp. This bacterium was collected from a colony of mussels in an intertidal area in the Douarnenez bay. This bay is located in the Finistère breakwater (Brittany department, France) and covers a distance of more than 600 kilometres of coast that is some the most wild, with the spikiest reefs, not only in France, but also in the world. This coastline is declining fast as a result of sea erosion, especially during heavy storms coinciding with high tides, because of the winds blowing from the West. During high tides, these mussels are covered with water and gradually become exposed to desiccation and other drastic environmental changes at low tide. The organisms inhabiting this area must have had to develop some kind of protection against these stressors and in all probability marine exopolysaccharides play a precious role in it.
Glucuronic acid is one of the main monomers of pseudoalteromonas exopolysaccharides. As hyaluronic acid (HA) is rich in the same monosaccharide, they were thought to have similar cosmetic properties.4
Skin contains about 50% of the total HA in a given organism. HA is produced mainly by fibroblasts and keratinocytes and thanks to its water retention capacity is able to maintain the extracellular space and facilitate the transport of ion solutes and nutrients.4
The levels of HA in the skin
naturally decrease with each passing year, resulting in dermal dehydration and rhytide formation (wrinkles), a process accelerated by free radicals.5
Hyaluronic acid is extremely hydrophilic and biochemically retains water: hydrogen bonding occurs between adjacent carboxyl and N-acetyl groups to the extent that it retains up to 1000 times its weight in water. In the superficial epidermis, it acts as a humectant contributing to moisture content, and it decreases transepidermal water loss. Once absorbed into deeper dermis, it increases the water retention leading to a plumping effect in the skin.5 However, intertidal areas are not the
April 2012 PERSONAL CARE 53
Relative humidity (%)
Weight change (%)
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