| Summary: | Long-term exposure to ultraviolet-B (UVB) can cause photoaging. Peptides from <i>Pinctada martensii</i> meat have been shown to have anti-photoaging activities, but their mechanism of action is rarely studied. In this study, <i>Pinctada martensii</i> meat hydrolysates (PME) were prepared by digestive enzymes and then separated by ultrafiltration and Sephadex G-25 gel filtration chromatography to obtain a purified fraction (G2). The fraction G2 was identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS), and peptide sequences were synthesized by solid-phase synthesis. The mechanism of anti-photoaging activities was investigated using a human immortalised epidermal (HaCaT) cell model. Results showed that peptides from <i>Pinctada martensii</i> meat increased UVB-induced cell viability and reduced the contents of interstitial collagenase (MMP-1) and matrix lysing enzyme (MMP-3) in HaCaT cells. Furthermore, the fraction of G2 significantly downregulated the expression of <i>p38</i>, <i>EKR</i>, <i>JNK</i>, <i>MMP-1</i>, and <i>MMP-3</i> in HaCaT cells. The peptide sequences Phe-His (FH), Ala-Leu (AL), Met-Tyr (MY), Ala-Gly-Phe (AGF), and Ile-Tyr-Pro (IYP) were identified and synthesized. Besides, FH reduced the contents of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in HaCaT cells, combining them effectively in molecular docking analysis. Thus, peptides from <i>Pinctada martensii</i> meat showed anti-photoaging activities and might have the potential to be used as an anti-photoaging agent in functional foods.
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