Edible Bird's Nest, an Asian Health Food Supplement, Possesses Moisturizing Effect by Regulating Expression of Filaggrin in Skin Keratinocyte.

Queenie Wing Sze Lai,Dongshi Guan,Maggie Sui Sui Guo,Penger Tong,Karl Wah Keung Tsim,Zhitao Liao,Kevin Qiyun Wu,Tina Tingxia Dong

doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.685982

Abstract

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) has been consumed as a Chinese delicacy for hundreds of years; the functions of which have been proposed to prevent lung disease, strengthen immune response, and restore skin youthfulness. To support the skin function of EBN, the water extract and the enzymatic digest of EBN with enriched digested peptides were tested in cultured keratinocyte, HaCaT cell line. The effects of EBN extract and digest in inducing proteins crucial for skin moisturizing were determined in both in vitro and ex vivo models. In cultured keratinocytes, the expressions of S100-fused type proteins contributing to skin barrier function in the stratum corneum, e.g. filaggrin and filaggrin-2, were determined in both mRNA and protein levels, which were markedly induced in the treatment of EBN extract or digest. The EBN-induced gene transcriptions of filaggrin and filaggrin-2 were mediated by activation of p38 MAPK pathway and various transcription factors, e.g. GATA3, PPARα, PPARβ, and PPARγ: these transcriptional factors were markedly activated by the digested products of EBN, as compared to the extract, in cultured keratinocytes. By using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the EBN-treated keratinocyte was shown to have more liquid-like morphology, as compared to a control cell. The EBN digest showed better induction on these moisturizing effects as compared to the extract. These lines of evidence therefore suggested the water moisturizing effect of EBN in skin function.

Highlights

Edible bird’s nest (EBN; Yan Wo), the solidified saliva secreted by the swiftlets, Aerodramus fuciphagus, has been consumed in Asia for several hundred years as a delicacy
The HPLC chromatograms of EBN extract and its enzymatic digested product were illustrated in Figure 1, which were obtained by injections of 10 μL of 10 mg/mL EBN extract, or 100 μL 10 mg/mL EBN digest, or 10 μL 1 mg/mL protein markers
The peak eluted at 20 min was the only peak observed from EBN extract, suggesting that EBN was formed in a large complex protein with an oversized molecular weight at least >2,000 kDa

Summary

Introduction

Edible bird’s nest (EBN; Yan Wo), the solidified saliva secreted by the swiftlets, Aerodramus fuciphagus, has been consumed in Asia for several hundred years as a delicacy. Edible Bird’s Nest Moisturize Skin records, several lines of evidence have suggested the functions of EBN in improving immune response (Zhao et al, 2016), encouraging cell regeneration (Roh et al, 2012), promoting anti-oxidation (Ghassem et al, 2017) and facilitating skin whitening (Chan et al, 2015). EBN contains a rich source of protein, having over 50% by dry weight, which provides a rich source of glycoproteins and amino acids for human consumption (Halimi et al, 2014; Wong et al, 2018b). We have developed methods to maximize the extracting efficiency of protein/peptide in EBN, as well as the soluble sialic acids (Wong et al, 2018a). Having the developed method for EBN extraction, the extractable protein/peptide was significantly increased by 70–90%

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Results

Conclusion