Mycosporine and Mycosporine-like Amino acids: A Paramount Tool against Ultra Violet Irradiation

Pharmacognosy Review,2011,5,10,138-146.
Published:December 2011
Type:Review Articles
Authors:
Author(s) affiliations:

Saurabh Bhatia, Arun Garg, K Sharma1, S Kumar1, A Sharma2, AP Purohit2
1Department of Pharmacognosy, P. D. M. College of Pharmacy, Bahadurgarh, Haryana, India
2Department of Pharmacognosy, RV Northland College of Pharmacy, Greater Noida, India
3Department of Pharmacognosy, Poona College of Pharmacy, Pune, India

Abstract:

Various facts demonstrated that UVB is harmful to organisms. Sunscreen compounds are usually used to prevent the excessive damage caused by UVB. However, certain photosynthetic organisms have evolved mechanisms to counteract the toxicity of ultraviolet radiation by synthesizing UV screening compounds such as mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). MAAs provide UV protection to primary and secondary consumers through food chain and to non-biological materials by photostabilizing action. Information related to the ecological consequence of MAAs and their spatial distribution from a wide range of organisms is accumulating. Hence, our studies seek a potent class of natural sun protective compounds to understand their relationship with environment and to develop a protocol for large-scale industrial production of these compounds so that they can find application as UV-protecting cosmetics.

Cite This Article

Vancouver Style ::
S. Bhatia, Garg, A. , Sharma, K. , Kumar, S. , Sharma, A. , and Purohit, A. P. , Mycosporine and Mycosporine-like Amino acids: A Paramount Tool against Ultra Violet Irradiation, Pharmacognosy Review, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 138-146, 2011.