Impact of air pollutants on cutaneous responses in both healthy and compromised skin barrier, and innovative solutions to protect skin against urban pollution

Project Information

CITYCARE

Grant agreement ID: 765602

DOI

10.3030/765602

Project closed

EC signature date 28 August 2017

Start date 1 September 2017

End date 31 August 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 773 848,08

EU contribution

€ 773 848,08

Coordinated by

DOW SILICONES BELGIUM
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CITYCARE (Impact of air pollutants on cutaneous responses in both healthy and compromised skin barrier, and innovative solutions to protect skin against urban pollution)

Reporting period: 2019-09-01 to 2021-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The skin is the first barrier against the external environment. Hence, it is constantly exposed to oxidative stress from pollutants such as ground level ozone (O3), particulate matter, cigarette smoke and solar radiation. Those pollutants have severe impacts on skin, including premature skin aging and cancer, as well as may aggravate skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis and urticaria.
The CITYCARE project aimed at better understanding the effects of air pollutants on both skin barrier integrity and function by investigating the synergistic effects of air pollutants such as ozone, cigarette smoke and diesel exhaust with UV radiation. Since the percentage of the world’s population being urban is continuously increasing, there is an urgent need to protect every single city dweller from urban pollution. Although the use of sunscreens in skin care formulations provides an essential protection against the cutaneous damages caused by UV radiation, there was at the time of the project not a single class of compounds that were identified to protect skin against the whole spectrum of environmental stressors. For this reason, an important part of the project included the study and the testing of innovative solutions to protect skin against those air pollutants using both antioxidant compounds and film forming polymers as protective approaches.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

To study the effects of environmental pollutants at the skin level, a 3D reconstructed human epidermal (RhE) model was first developed. This RhE model consists of primary keratinocytes, the main cells present in the epidermis, that are cultivated on a supporting membrane for several weeks to obtain a multilayered epidermal tissue that resembles the healthy native human epidermis. Besides a healthy model, a reliable and predictive in vitro model for atopic eczema (AE), a skin condition characterized by a barrier defect and an inflammatory, was prepared to investigate differences in the effects of air pollutants between healthy and altered skin conditions. These two models (RhE and AE-RhE) were fully characterized using common cell culture techniques to guarantee that they resemble the main features of intact and impaired human skin.
Besides the reproducibility and the overall morphology of the RhE models, also their responsiveness to different stimuli was investigated. In this way, the correct positive controls for assays to study the cytotoxicity, mitochondrial activity, tissue integrity and pro-inflammatory response were determined. After establishing relevant human epidermal models, exposure conditions to the several air pollutants were optimized. Additional studies were carried out to gain a deeper understanding about how these pollutants, combined or not with solar radiation, affect the skin.
The protection benefits of well-know antioxidant compounds as well as technologies under-development were evaluated mainly using 2D cell cultures of human keratinocytes.
More than 12 review and research papers were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In addition, PhD fellows have shared their project results through the participation to more than 10 international conferences and to scientific workshops and seminars organized by the consortium.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Creating human exposure data based on non-animal approaches became now a requirement in the process of risk and hazard assessment. The reconstructed epidermis is the first organ that received regulatory approval for irritation testing. Indeed, 3D skin models based on cells of human origin mimic more closely the native human skin and its response to exogenous chemicals. However, there are still few investigations about the effect of air pollutants on 3D skin models.
Air pollutants of main health concern include ozone, diesel particles and cigarette smoke. Therefore, three exposure systems were designed in order to mimic the human exposure in the most realistic conditions. Using the same RhE, a comparison between the post-exposure biological responses to the different air pollutants was possible.
The results of the action provided a a better understanding of the cutaneous toxicity induced by three main air pollutants combined or not with solar irradiation, and of the protection benefits of antioxidant compounds used by the cosmetic industry for skin care applications.
Finally, the project contributed to increasing the awareness of urban citizens about the involvement of air pollution in the development or exacerbation of skin diseases.

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