Positive Promoting Effects of Smilax China Flower Absolute on the Wound Healing/Skin Barrier Repair‐Related Responses of HaCaT Human Skin Keratinocytes

Abstract Smilax china (SC) has pharmacological effects including anti‐inflammatory activity, but its effects on skin wound healing and skin barrier function have not been investigated. Here, we investigated the effects of absolute extracted from SC flowers (SCF) on skin wound healing‐linked responses and functional skin barrier proteins using human epidermal keratinocytes (HaCaT cells). SCF absolute contained 20 components and was non‐toxic to HaCaT cells. The absolute increased the proliferation, migration, and sprout outgrowth of HaCaT cells, and enhanced the activations of serine/threonine‐specific protein kinase and extracellular signal‐regulated kinase1/2. In addition, it increased the syntheses of type I and IV collagens and the expressions of skin barrier proteins (filaggrin and loricrin). These results indicate SCF absolute may has positive effects on skin wound healing by accelerating keratinocyte migration and proliferation activities and collagen synthesis, and on skin barrier function by upregulating barrier proteins in keratinocytes. We suggest SCF absolute to be considered as a potential means of promoting skin wound and barrier repair.