ROS reducing and skin-whitening potentials of corn silk peptide FMFFVYK

Human skin is constantly exposed to oxidative stress due to the ubiquitous presence of free radicals which may be destructive to skin cells. Discovery of antioxidative peptides from corn silk could encourage the channelling of corn silk waste into useful materials with cosmeceutical values. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the antioxidative and skin-whitening properties of FMFFVYK (Phe-Met-Phe-Phe-Val-Tyr-Lys), a corn silk-derived peptide. MTT assay was first performed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of FMFFVYK on HaCaT skin cells, while DCFH-DA assay was used to determine the cellular antioxidative activity of FMFFVYK. In order to evaluate the skin-whitening ability, the inhibitory potential of FMFFVYK towards tyrosinase, a key enzyme in melanogenesis, was investigated. Results obtained showed that the peptide did not reduce cellular viability of skin cells at tested concentrations up to 150 μg/mL. Furthermore, reduction of endogenous ROS after treatment with FMFFVYK was observed in the HaCat cell line as compared to untreated control. FMFFVYK also demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of the activity of tyrosinase enzyme in vitro, indicating possible skin whitening effect. As such, FMFFVYK is an effective and novel antioxidative and skin-whitening peptide that could be integrated into cosmeceutical products, thus, warrants further investigation.