Protective Activity of Alpha-Mangostin against UVB-Induced Injury in HaCaT Cells by Modulating the Ceramide and MAPK and NF-κB Signaling Pathways

This study investigated the potential protective effects of alpha-mangostin (α-MG) on ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced damage in HaCaT cells. The results showed that α-MG less than 10 μM had no significant cytotoxicity and exposure to UVB (50 mJ/cm2) reduced cell viability by approximately 50% compared with the control. The 2 μM α-MG upregulated cell viability and downregulated the expression of metal matrix proteases (MMPs). The results of flow cytometry, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and immunoblotting manifested that α-MG relieved the extent of apoptosis and reduced the levels of apoptosis-associated mRNAs and proteins, respectively. The results of RT-qPCR and ELISA indicated that α-MG suppressed the generation of IL-6 and TNF-α. Furthermore, α-MG effectively downregulated activation of the UVB-induced nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Finally, lipidomics profiling demonstrated that α-MG significantly reduced UVB radiation-increased ceramide. Overall, these results demonstrated that α-MG has beneficial effects against photoaging by reducing the ceramide content and inhibiting MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways.