Recombinant human collagen digestates exhibit higher protective effect on UVA-damaged skin fibroblasts than animal-derived collagens

Recombinant collagen offers an attractive alternative to the animal-derived collagens in cosmetics and tissue engineering. But its anti-skin-aging effect as food remains unclear. Compared to fish and bovine collagens, recombinant human collagen (RHC) digestates had a higher Pro content and average molecular weight (7222.96 Da). In UVA-damaged human skin fibroblasts, RHC digestates increased proliferation to 133.41 % and migration by 3.23-fold. They decreased ROS levels by 54.02 % via enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. They also stimulated the expression of mRNA and protein of COL1A1, COL3A1, HAS2, and TIMP-1, and inhibited the expression of MMP-1. Overall, RHC digestates exhibited a higher protective effect on UVA-damaged fibroblasts than animal-derived collagens, which was due to their special molecular structure that provided a more cell-friendly microenvironment and/or directly exerted a higher biological activity. These suggested that RHC might be a promising and more effective anti-skin-aging agent as macronutrient or functional food.