Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology (한국해양바이오학회지)

The Korean Society for Marine Biotechnology (한국해양바이오학회)
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Anti-melanogenic effects of small extracellular vesicles de rived from Haematococcus lacustris green-stage culture medium

Haematococcus lacustris green-stage 배양액에서 분리한 small extracellular vesicles의 미백 효과

  • Ye-Sol Kim (Department of Medical Science, Soonchhunhyang University) ;
  • Wook-Chul Kim (Department of Medical Science, Soonchhunhyang University) ;
  • Yun-Su Lee (Department of Medical Science, Soonchhunhyang University) ;
  • Huijeong Byeon (Department of Biology, Soonchunhyang University) ;
  • Sang Mok Jung (Research Institute for Basic Science, Soonchunhyang University) ;
  • Hyun Woung Shin (Department of Biology, Soonchunhyang University) ;
  • Seung-Hong Lee (Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Soonchunhyang University)
  • 김예솔 (순천향대학교 의료과학과) ;
  • 김욱철 (순천향대학교 의료과학과) ;
  • 이윤수 (순천향대학교 의료과학과) ;
  • 변희정 (순천향대학교 생명과학과) ;
  • 정상목 (순천향대학교 기초과학연구소) ;
  • 신현웅 (순천향대학교 생명과학과) ;
  • 이승홍 (순천향대학교 의약공학과)
  • Received : 2026.04.08
  • Accepted : 2026.05.09
  • Published : 2026.06.30
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Abstract

Microalgae have recently emerged as valuable bioresources due to their diverse functional compounds and are increasingly used as sustainable ingredients in cosmetic and biomedical applications. Although most studies have focused on intracellular metabolites, accumulating evidence suggests that microalgal culture media also contain bioactive extracellular components. Haematococcus lacustris is well known for its capacity to accumulate astaxanthin under stress conditions. However, the biological potential of its green-stage culture medium remains largely unexplored. In this study, we isolated extracellular vesicles (EVs) from the culture medium of green-stage H. lacustris and evaluated their anti-melanogenic activity using a zebrafish model. The purified EVs significantly suppressed melanin production without inducing toxicity. These findings indicate that EVs constitute a key bioactive component in the culture medium and further suggest that green-stage H. lacustris may serve as a sustainable microalgal resource for cosmetic applications.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구는 연구개발특구진흥재단의 '지역혁신 메가프로젝트' 사업으로 수행되었습니다. (과제명: 해양바이오 전략소재 메타 플랫폼화 원천기술개발, 과제번호: 2023-DD-UP-0007)

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