日本メナード化粧品, in joint research with Fujita Health University, clarified that SOD3, an antioxidant enzyme secreted by dermal stem cells themselves, is involved in maintaining the balance between stem-cell self-renewal and differentiation. The research findings were published in the online edition of an academic journal.
Joint research with Fujita Health University found that SOD3, which dermal stem cells secrete themselves, is involved in the mechanism that maintains these cells. Analysis of dermal tissue showed that people with fewer stem cells had lower levels of SOD3, suggesting that the amount of SOD3 expression affects differences in stem-cell numbers.
Artificial suppression of SOD3 gene expression increased reactive oxygen species and made DNA damage more likely. It also reduced self-renewal capacity, lowered expression of genes associated with stem-cell characteristics, and increased expression of genes associated with fibroblast characteristics.
The study also found that age-related and ultraviolet-induced effects, including inflammatory cytokines, reduce SOD3 expression, suggesting a mechanism in which insufficient SOD3 promotes stem-cell depletion and differentiation.
The company plans to pursue applied research centered on regulating SOD3 expression in dermal stem cells and extend the findings into technologies for the beauty and medical fields.
The findings were published in the online edition of the Journal of Dermatological Science.