Interactions between Skin-Resident Cells in UV-Induced Skin Pigmentation and the Improving Effects of an Extract of Cerasus sargentii

Abstract

Some recent reports have suggested the presence of interactions between skin resident cells, keratinocytes, fibroblasts and melanocytes, in UV-induced skin pigmentation. In this study, we demonstrated the possibility of interactions between keratinocytes and fibroblasts through the IL-1α/KGF/FGF7 axis on the transfer of mature melanosomes into keratinocytes. Furthermore, the presence of interactions between UVA-irradiated fibroblasts and keratinocytes or melanocytes was confirmed regarding the transfer of melanosomes to keratinocytes and the synthesis of tyrosinase in melanocytes. The results of this study indicate the possibility that UV-induced skin pigmentation is achieved by the integrated actions of skin resident cells which are keratinocytes, melanocytes and fibroblasts. In order to propose clues towards regulating that process, we evaluated the potential of a fruit extract of Cerasus sargentii (CS), which is harvested from the Necklace Road located around Mount Iwaki in the Aomori Prefecture. The results show that the CS extract has an excellent potential to prevent UV-induced skin pigmentation by interfering with the interactions between skin resident cells. Thus, this study proposes that CS is a promising new candidate to prevent/improve UV-induced skin pigmentation by interfering with interactions between skin resident cells.