@

초록

Long-term ultraviolet (UV) exposure causes skin diseases and photoaging, necessitating the use of sunscreens. Recently, multifunctional sunscreens have been attracting considerable attention. In this work, we first develop UV-responsive nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) designed to encapsulate active ingredients and release them in proportion to the solar UVB dose. These NLCs were co-loaded with an adiponectin-stimulating skin regeneration peptide (pentasodium tetracarboxymethyl hexanoyl dipeptide-12, PTHD-12) and a pre-UV filter (methoxyphenylethenyl t-butylbenzoate, MPTB). Upon UVB irradiation, MPTB is photoconverted into the UV filter (avobenzone); this structural rearrangement destabilizes the lipid matrix, triggering the on-demand release of the peptide. The optimized formulation (NLC3-P-M3) exhibited a mean particle size of approximately 400 nm, high encapsulation efficiencies, and excellent long-term stability. In vitro and ex vivo studies demonstrated that UV-activated NLC3-P-M3 significantly reduced the UVB-induced expression of an inflammatory mediator (tumor necrosis factor-α) and a fibroblast collagenase (matrix metalloproteinase-1), while enhancing the expression of a skin barrier/hydration protein (filaggrin). In a randomized clinical study, a sunscreen containing NLC3-P-M3 exhibited superior protective and restorative efficacies compared to a control sunscreen. After cumulative UV exposure, the test formulation effectively prevented 90% of the skin elasticity degradation observed in the control group. Furthermore, the UV-induced increases in transepidermal water loss and erythema in the test group were restricted to only 31% and 46% of those observed in the control group, respectively. This smart, dose-responsive platform successfully integrates photoprotection and active skin repair into a single advanced sunscreen formulation. © 2026 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.

키워드