Design of <i>Bombyx mori</i> (<i>B. mori</i>) Silk Fibroin Microspheres for Developing Biosafe Sunscreen
Yecheng Wang, Mei Yang, Mei Yang, Jie Wang, Yajun Shuai, Zongpu Xu, Quan Wan, Suting Zhong, Chuanbin Mao, Weidong Ping, Mingying Yang, Mingying Yang
Abstract
Sunscreens play a crucial role in protecting the skin from ultraviolet (UV) damage. However, present commercial sunscreens have a tendency to generate free radicals in the UV window, resulting in serious inflammatory responses and health problems. In this study, we demonstrate that silk fibroin microspheres (SFMPs) assembled from regenerated silk fibroin (SF) could scavenge free radicals while preventing UV irradiation and thus present a promising sunscreen. The SFMP reflected more UV light than SF and presented a higher stability than that of organic commercial sunscreens. In vitro analysis proved that SFMP could more efficiently scavenge the hydroxy radical and reduce the intracellular reactive oxygen than titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ). In vivo experiments exhibited that SFMP provided stronger skin protection against UV irradiation than commercial sunscreens and TiO 2 . Furthermore, SFMP treatment significantly inhibited the skin inflammatory response. This work suggests that the SFMP has great potential to be developed into a biosafe sunscreen.