Repair effect of Centella asiatica (L.) extract on damaged HaCaT cells studied by atomic force microscopy

Abstract People's choice of cosmetics is no longer just ‘Follow the trend’, but pays more attention to the ingredients of cosmetics, whether the ingredients of cosmetics are beneficial to people's skin health; therefore, more and more skin‐healthy ingredients have been discovered and used in cosmetics. In this work, atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to provide physical information about biomolecules and living cells; it brings us a new method of high‐precision physical measurement. Centella asiatica (L.) extract has the ability to promote skin wound healing, but its healing effect on damaged HaCaT cells needs to be investigated, which plays a key role in judging the effectiveness of skincare ingredients. The objective of this study was to explore the impact of Centella asiatica (L.) extract on ethanol‐damaged human immortalised epidermal HaCaT cells based on AFM. We established a model of cellular damage and evaluated cell viability using the MTT assay. The physical changes of cell height, roughness, adhesion and Young's modulus were measured by AFM. The findings indicated that the Centella asiatica (L.) extract had a good repair effect on injured HaCaT cells, and the optimal concentration was 75 μg/mL.