本研究是利用白芨塊莖所萃取的白芨多醣體，處理3T3老鼠纖維母細胞後，進行弁鄔吨尷R。我們發現0.5 mg/ml的白芨多醣體，能促進第Ⅲ型膠原蛋白基因表現，導致第Ⅲ型膠原蛋白新生。對基質金屬蛋白酶(Matrix metalloproteinases, MMPs) 基因表現影響的結果顯示，MMP-1、MMP-9維持低程度的基因表現，MMP-2基因表現則有增加的趨勢。但MMP-2胞內及胞外的酵素活性並無隨著基因表現的增加而增強，皆與控制組相同。另外，基質金屬蛋白酶抑制物 (Tissue inhibitors of MMP, TIMPs) 的TIMP-1基因表現增加，而TIMP-2基因則維持低程度的基因表現。因此，我們可以推測在白芨多醣體的刺激作用下，增加的TIMP-1可抑制MMP-2的酵素活性，使新生的第Ⅲ型膠原蛋白獲得保護而累積。在細胞的抗氧化能力方面，白芨多醣體對超氧化物歧化酶 (Superoxide dismutases, SODs) 的SOD-1 (Cytosolic Cu/Zn SOD)、SOD-2 (Mitochondrial Mn SOD)、SOD-3 (Extracellular SOD)基因表現皆無影響。另一方面，白芨多醣體保濕能力的實驗結果顯示，10%的白芨多醣體具有良好保濕能力。由上述的研究結果證明白芨多醣體可應用於抗老化和皮膚修護的化粧品。 The effects of polysaccharides (BSP) isolated from tubers of Bletilla striata on 3T3 mouse fibroblasts were examined in this study. We found that 0.5 mg/ml of BSP could up-regulate collagen III gene expression, leading to enhanced de novo synthesis of collagen III. The results also showed that MMP-2 gene expression increased in fibroblasts treated with BSP, while MMP-1 and MMP-9 gene expression remained a relatively low level. However, the activities of intracellular and extracellular MMP-2 maintained a constitutive status compared to control groups. In addition, we demonstrated that TIMP-1 gene expression was augmented in the presence of BSP, but a low expression level kept in TIMP-2. The data taken together suggested that increased TIMP-1 might inhibit MMP-2 activity, then bringing about the accumulation of neo-synthesized collagen III. Furthermore, we investigated that gene expression of SOD-1, SOD-2, and SOD-3 in fibroblasts treated with BSP remained unchanged. On the other hand, we proved that 10% of BSP dissolved in H2O possessed excellent water retention properties confirmed by the moisturizing test. In conclusion, the experimental data presented here intensely suggested that BSP could be used as a potential anti-aging ingredient in skincare cosmetics.
