Amphiphilic Hyaluronic Acids Enhance Sanshool’s Efficacy against Skin Photodamage <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> Stability Improvement and Cell Cycle Regulation

Yi Yang; Jun-Mei Song; Tian-You Wang; Shu-Wei Wu; Yu-Hang Zhou; Zhi-Peng Gu; Ling-Hong Guo; Xian Jiang

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3657-y

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Amphiphilic Hyaluronic Acids Enhance Sanshool’s Efficacy against Skin Photodamage via Stability Improvement and Cell Cycle Regulation

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-07-01

- Amphiphilic Hyaluronic Acids Enhance Sanshool’s Efficacy against Skin Photodamage via Stability Improvement and Cell Cycle Regulation
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 7, Pages: 2370-2384(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Department of Dermatology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
  b.Laboratory of Dermatology, Clinical Institute of Inflammation and Immunology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Chengdu 610041, China
  c.College of Polymer Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymer Materials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
- Author bio：
  
  guzhipeng2019@scu.edu.cn (Z.P.G.)
  linhom.guo@foxmail.com (L.H.G.)
  jiangxian@scu.edu.cn (X.J.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3657-y
  CLC：
- Received：12 February 2026，
  
  Revised：2026-03-05，
  
  Accepted：11 March 2026，
  
  Online First：16 April 2026，
  
  Published：05 July 2026
- Accepted：
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Yang, Y.; Song, J. M.; Wang, T. Y.; Wu, S. W.; Zhou, Y. H.; Gu, Z. P.; Guo, L. H.; Jiang, X. Amphiphilic hyaluronic acids enhance sanshool’s efficacy against skin photodamage via stability improvement and cell cycle regulation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2370–2384

Yi Yang, Jun-Mei Song, Tian-You Wang, et al. Amphiphilic Hyaluronic Acids Enhance Sanshool’s Efficacy against Skin Photodamage via Stability Improvement and Cell Cycle Regulation[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2370-2384. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3657-y.
Yang, Y.; Song, J. M.; Wang, T. Y.; Wu, S. W.; Zhou, Y. H.; Gu, Z. P.; Guo, L. H.; Jiang, X. Amphiphilic hyaluronic acids enhance sanshool’s efficacy against skin photodamage via stability improvement and cell cycle regulation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2370–2384 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3657-y.

Yi Yang, Jun-Mei Song, Tian-You Wang, et al. Amphiphilic Hyaluronic Acids Enhance Sanshool’s Efficacy against Skin Photodamage via Stability Improvement and Cell Cycle Regulation[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2370-2384. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3657-y. DOI：

摘要

Hydrophobically modified hyaluronic acid self-assembles with sanshool into nanoparticles that scavenge ROS

inhibit apoptosis

modulate autophagy

restore cell cycle

and enable multi-target photoprotection.

Abstract

Sanshool is a promising skin photoprotective agent with strong UV absorption and great antioxidative activity. However

it faces challenges including poor stability

skin penetration-associated systemic toxicity

and efficacy loss upon chemical modification. To address these issues

amphiphilic hyaluronic acids (HHA) were synthesized and self-assembled to integrate with sanshool

via

hydrophobic interactions

significantly boosting its photostability by 24% and enhancing its antioxidative activity. In HaCaT cells

HHA-sanshool nanoparticles (NPs) reduced UVB-induced reactive oxygen species

decreased cell apoptosis

and lowered G2/M phase arrest from 42% to approximately 31% (close to the normal level)

while also inhibiting excessive autophagy. Moreover

in a mouse model

HHA-sanshool NPs alleviated UVB-induced skin damage

reducing skin thickening by up to 50% and mitigating erythema

protected collagen/elastic fibers

and suppressed proinflammatory factor

with no dermal penetratio

in vivo

. This strategy provides a simple

efficient and safe platform for natural active molecular clinical translation in skin photoprotection.

关键词

Keywords

references

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⁰

Amphiphilic Hyaluronic Acids Enhance Sanshool’s Efficacy against Skin Photodamage via Stability Improvement and Cell Cycle Regulation

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3657-y

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references