Nanotechnology Delivery system offers new approach to Skin disease Therapies

The system has a protective cellular pathway inducer that activates the body’s natural defense against free radicals efficiently, a development that could control a variety of skin pathologies and disorders. The human skin is constantly exposed to various pollutants, UV rays, radiation and other stressors that exist in our day-to-day environment. When they filter into the body they can create Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) ie Free Radicals, which are able to damage and destroy cells, including lipids, proteins and DNA.

In the skin, an excess of ROS can lead to various skin conditions, including inflammatory diseases, pigmenting disorders, wrinkles and some types of skin cancer, and can also affect internal organs. This damage is known as Oxidative Stress. The body is equipped with defense mechanisms, ie anti-oxidants and, more importantly, anti-oxidant enzymes that attack the ROS before they cause damage.

Ben-Yehuda Greenwald showed that applying nano-size droplets of microemulsion liquids containing a cellular protective pathway inducer into the skin activates the natural skin defense systems. Production of antioxidant enzymes in the body is signaled in the DNA by activation of Nrf2 – a powerful protein that exists in every cell in our body. This Nrf2 cellular-protective signaling pathway is a major intersection of many other signaling pathways affecting each other and determining cell functionality and fate. Nrf2 is capable of coordinating the cellular response to internal as well as external stressors by tight regulation of phase-II protective enzymes, such as the antioxidant enzymes.

Ben-Yehuda Greenwald has also discovered a new family of compounds capable of activating the Nrf2 pathway. Moreover, by incorporating them into the unique delivery system she has developed, she managed to efficiently stimulate the activation of the Nrf2 pathway and mimic the activity of the body’s’ natural way of coping with a variety of stress conditions.

“The formula we have created could be used in topical medication for treating skin conditions. Our formula could be used both as preventive means and for treatment of various skin conditions, such as infections, over-exposure to UV irradiation, inflammatory conditions, and also internal disease,” she said. The formulation could prove to be effective in enhancing the body’s natural protection against the damaging effects of ROS in other parts of the body, eg inflammation in cardiovascular diseases, heart attack, cancer, MS and Alzheimer’s. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/thuo-nds022916.php

http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9284/3/1/1/htm

(A) Consequences of skin exposure to stressors; (B) Possible approaches for decreasing oxidative damage; (C) Schematic diagram representing the cytoprotective activities of the antioxidants enzymes regulated by the Keap1–Nrf2 pathway, adapted from [30]; (D) Schematic representation for the Keap1–Nrf2 pathway.