Electrosprayed Shrimp and Mushroom Nanochitins on Cellulose Tissue for Skin Contact Application.

Bahareh Azimi,Patrizia Cinelli,Andrea Lazzeri,Claudio Ricci,Stefano Linari,Alessandra Fusco,Ahdi Hadrich,Maria-Beatrice Coltelli,Lorenzo Zavagna,Giovanna Donnarumma,Serena Danti

doi:10.3390/molecules26144374

Abstract

Cosmetics has recently focused on biobased skin-compatible materials. Materials from natural sources can be used to produce more sustainable skin contact products with enhanced bioactivity. Surface functionalization using natural-based nano/microparticles is thus a subject of study, aimed at better understanding the skin compatibility of many biopolymers also deriving from biowaste. This research investigated electrospray as a method for surface modification of cellulose tissues with chitin nanofibrils (CNs) using two different sources—namely, vegetable (i.e., from fungi), and animal (from crustaceans)—and different solvent systems to obtain a biobased and skin-compatible product. The surface of cellulose tissues was uniformly decorated with electrosprayed CNs. Biological analysis revealed that all treated samples were suitable for skin applications since human dermal keratinocytes (i.e., HaCaT cells) successfully adhered to the processed tissues and were viable after being in contact with released substances in culture media. These results indicate that the use of solvents did not affect the final cytocompatibility due to their effective evaporation during the electrospray process. Such treatments did not also affect the characteristics of cellulose; in addition, they showed promising anti-inflammatory and indirect antimicrobial activity toward dermal keratinocytes in vitro. Specifically, cellulosic substrates decorated with nanochitins from shrimp showed strong immunomodulatory activity by first upregulating then downregulating the pro-inflammatory cytokines, whereas nanochitins from mushrooms displayed an overall anti-inflammatory activity via a slight decrement of the pro-inflammatory cytokines and increment of the anti-inflammatory marker. Electrospray could represent a green method for surface modification of sustainable and biofunctional skincare products.

Highlights

Chitin consists of both crystalline and amorphous domains, but the elimination of the amorphous phase results in chitin nanofibrils (CNs), nanocrystals characterized by high bioavailability; they have become an appealing source in green cosmetics [2]
We investigated the effect of CN source and solvent system types on the decoration of cellulose tissues and their bioactive properties for skin contact applications
An easy and efficient method was set up to uniformly decorate the surface of cellulose tissue via electrospray of CNs extracted from different sources, i.e., shrimp- and mushroomderived

Summary

Introduction

Chitin is primarily found in the shells of crustaceans, cuticles of insects, and cell walls of fungi. It is the second most abundant polymerized carbon-based macromolecular material found in nature and can be converted to innovative high-value bio- and eco-compatible materials [1]. Chitin consists of both crystalline and amorphous domains, but the elimination of the amorphous phase results in chitin nanofibrils (CNs), nanocrystals characterized by high bioavailability; they have become an appealing source in green cosmetics [2]

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Discussion

Conclusion