Sun exposure and NO release. A mechanistic in-vitro study

• Grant number: 22/13066-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics - Radiology and Photobiology
• Principal Investigator: Mauricio da Silva Baptista
• Grantee: Paulo Eduardo da Costa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07937-8 - Redoxome - Redox Processes in Biomedicine, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Solar radiation does not only bring harm to the skin. UVB rays are responsible for the formation and subsequent activation of vitamin D, and this compound has a multitude of biological activities, and may even inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells by stimulating the increase in the number of apoptotic cells. Also, the decrease in the blood pressure, which is induced by the release of Nitric oxide (NO) upon sun exposure, is a known fact that has not received proper mechanistic explanations. NO is related to a wide range of physiological processes such as vasodilation, macrophage cytotoxicity, and wound healing. It is likely that specific complexes of NO can release NO upon sun exposure, bringing clear benefits to the individuals engaging in small-period exposures. NO complexes have been detected in the skin and could play a role in the photoinduced release of NO. Dinitrosyl iron complexes (DNIC), which are complexes with iron, NO, and thiols molecules such as cysteine, glutathione, and thiol proteins, are strong candidates to fulfill this role. Also, recent evidence showed that the iron metabolism in the epidermis has measurable impacts on systemic iron metabolism. Iron concentration and release from the skin may have a connection with the local concentration of DNIC, but this connection has never been properly investigated. In this project, we will use 3D skin models and ex-vivo specimens of skin and blood vessels: 1. Characterize the photochemical action spectra of NO release by several DNIC complexes; 2. Understand whether irradiation induces the formation of NO complexes in the skin models with incubation at different levels of free iron. 3. Evaluate the consequences of NO release, iron concentration and sun exposure in the maturation of 3D skin models, in ex-vivo blood vessels and skin specimens.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COSTA, PAULO; TRUZZI, DANIELA RAMOS; DA BAPTISTA, MAURICIO. NO-iron compounds release NO after exposure to UVA radiation: implications for cell survival in the in vitro skin models. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, v. 208, p. 1-pg., 2023-11-01. (22/13066-9, 13/07937-8)