MARINE INGREDIENTS 43


New melanobreaker strategy for skin brightening


n Eve Bosseboeuf, Gabrielle Moro, Pierre-Yves Morvan - Codif Technologie Naturelle, France


Under the umbrella of skin pigmentation, constitutive pigmentation, which determines every individual’s skin colour, is distinguished from “light-induced” pigmentation, in which supplementary pigmentation mechanisms are triggered in response to sunlight, namely to ultra-violet rays (UV rays). All elements comprising the epidermis are involved in the complex mechanics that control light- induced and constitutive pigmentation synthesis. Skin is coloured by the presence of melanin. Melanin pigments are produced by melanocytes and are later transferred to keratinocytes in the epidermis. The way in which pigmentation gene expression is regulated depends on how signalling pathways are activated.1


Regulator cells such


as keratinocytes and nerve fibres control the production of melanin by melanocytes. The equilibrium of melanin protein synthesis varies according to age and specific individual characteristics as well as environmental factors (pollution, nutrition, stress), which together foster or detract from the skin’s homogeneous appearance and luminosity.2


Environmental factors that


overstimulate pigmentation may result in excessive melanin levels, characterised by unsightly darkened blemishes on the skin. The creation of agents that limit excess melanin production and reduce blemishes is therefore of great interest. After several years performing research


studies, the properties and brightening effects of the brown algae known as Cystoseira tamariscifolia or “Rainbow wrack” have been revealed. This alga may contribute to natural pigmentation and skin colour homogeneity. When extracted from this alga, a cell concentrate called CyWhite acts specifically upon melanin production as well as on the maturation and degradation of melanosomes containing melanin. Cystoseira tamariscifolia is iridescent, meaning that it may seem to change colour depending on the angle at or light by which it is seen. An accumulation of oil droplets within pouches covered by the alga’s epidermal cells creates this effect. The algae’s iridescence appears to be a response to its environmental limitations; it is exposed to a range of light conditions


June 2020 Figure 1: The Rainbow algae in its natural environment and its hand harvesting.


that vary with the tides and water depth. Iridescence enhances the diffusion of ambient light towards the plant’s chloroplasts. This alga is hand-harvested at a certified Ecocert/Cosmos site where it is grown organically. The year’s new growth is cut by knife at low tide in order to reduce waste and promote regrowth. This is an environmentally responsible approach to algae culture (Fig 1).


Melanogenesis: how does skin get its colour? There are two types of melanin pigments: eumelanin, a brown-black pigment that contributes to UV ray protection, and pheomelanin, which is orangey-yellow,


cytotoxic and does not provide protection from UV rays.1


The specific balance and


synthesis of these two pigments determines the degree to which skin is pigmented and its exact shade.3


Melanin biosynthesis


occurs inside melanocytes, specifically within specialised cell organelles called melanosomes. Melanosomes, which are part of the secretory lysosome family, progress through diverse stages of maturity.4


Inside the Abstract


Science and new technology have made molecular data accessible and it is thanks to this informational context that we are able to identify the main players involved in the skin pigmentation process. Genes that use signalling pathways are this study’s ideal targets for assessing the efficacy of the main active agents to be developed. In the laboratory, a new brown algae extract has been revealed to us with potential implications for regulating the expression of genes participating in melanogenesis. The results have indeed come to show that the extract is able to inhibit the expression of those genes responsible for melanin synthesis activation, as well as to activate the genes responsible for their degradation. In addition to possessing uncommon properties by virtue of the alga’s iridescence, this extract, called CyWhite, helps to naturally rebalance skin pigmentation.


Once fully mature, melanosomes


are transferred to keratinocytes in the upper layers of the epidermis. It has been estimated that each melanosome interacts with 30 or 40 keratinocytes.5


keratinocytes, two hormones are primarily PERSONAL CARE EUROPE


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