• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2024

Songla (Usnea diffracta Vain.) is one of the lichens belonging to the genus Usnea, and pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and cardiovascular protection have been reported in previous studies, but its efficacy in skin and hair is not well known. In this study, the effect of Usnea diffracta extract (UDE) on anti-aging and dermal papilla cell proliferation was verified in vitro. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the UDE significantly reduced the expression of MMP-1 and the activity of MAPKs (ERK, p38, JNK) and AP-1 (c-Fos, c-Jun), which were increased by UVA in HDFn. In addition, the UDE significantly increased the proliferation of HFDPC and significantly increased the mRNA expression of VEGF and KGF, which are hair growth factors. Accordingly, the phosphorylation of ERK/CREB involved in hair proliferation and expression of growth factors was increased in a concentration-dependent manner. The main component represented by the main peak was separated and purified using Prep LC by concentrating the UDE, which was confirmed as diffractaic acid through NMR and Mess analysis. Isolated diffractaic acid significantly reduced the expression of MMP-1 increased by UVA in HDFn and increased the proliferation of HFDPC in a concentration-dependent manner. The result suggest that UDE proved its usability as a natural cosmetic material with anti-aging and dermal papilla cell activation effects.