SBIR Phase I: Development of biocompatible and biodegradable UV filters based on food-grade protein sources

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发对人类和环境都更安全的新型防晒霜和防紫外线产品。防晒霜通过吸收或反射太阳的有害紫外线来保护皮肤，防止皮肤过早老化、疼痛灼伤和皮肤癌。皮肤癌是美国最常见的癌症，每年的治疗费用高达33亿美元。防晒霜中的紫外线过滤活性成分一直受到严格审查，因为它们对人类和环境构成安全风险。目前的紫外线过滤器可以被皮肤吸收，导致激素紊乱，并在环境中持续存在和积累，从而伤害野生动物和破坏海洋生态系统。该项目将推动新型防晒霜和紫外线过滤器的开发，这些防晒霜和紫外线过滤器由天然存在的含有吸收紫外线氨基酸的食品安全肽组成。这些化合物具有光稳定、可生物降解、不吸收、对人体和环境安全等特点，将在皮肤护理和生物安全食品包装领域产生重大影响。因为它们的生产成本相对较低，它们也有可能在130亿美元的防晒霜产业中占据相当大的份额。该SBIR一期项目拟完成以下目标：1)从广泛可用的食品级来源开发防晒肽，并将其规模化至100克，以显示与目前的外源防晒化合物的成本竞争力和可重复性；2)优化多肽，提高其紫外吸光度，并研究其在细菌中的异种表达；3)评价肽的化学稳定性、光稳定性，并确认不吸收。这将实现第一阶段的总体目标，即在100克规模上可重复地生成安全且可生物降解的紫外线吸收肽，并进行了初步的稳定性研究。这项工作将为未来的努力奠定基础，包括独立的安全性研究、公斤级的生产和临床试验，以产生35年来第一个新的非处方防晒霜活性成分。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is the development of novel sunscreens and UV-protective products that are safer for both humans and the environment. Sunscreen protects the skin by absorbing or reflecting the sun’s harmful UV rays,preventing premature skin aging, painful burns, and skin cancer, which is the most common form of cancer in the U.S., and results in treatment costs reaching $3.3 billion annually. UV-filtering active ingredients in sunscreens have been under scrutiny because of the safety risks they pose to humans and the environment. Current UV filters can be absorbed by the skin, cause hormone disruption, and persist and accumulate in the environment, where they can harm wildlife and disrupt marine ecosystems. This project will advance the development of novel sunscreens and UV filters composed of naturally occurring, food-safe peptides containing UV-absorbing amino acids. These compounds are photo-stable, biodegradable, non-absorbing, and safe for both humans and the environment, and they will have high impact in the fields of skin care and biosafe food packaging. Because they can be produced at relatively low cost, they also have the potential to take a considerable share of the $13 billion sunscreen industry.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to complete the following objectives: 1) Develop sunscreen peptides from widely available food-grade sources and scale to 100 g to show cost-competitiveness with current xenobiotic sunscreen compounds and reproducibility; 2) Optimize peptides to improve their UVabsorbance and investigate heterologous expression in bacteria; and 3) Evaluate peptide chemical stability, photo-stability, and confirm non-absorption. This will achieve the overall Phase I goal of reproducibly generating safe and biodegradable UV-absorbing peptides at the 100 g scale, with initial stability studies conducted. This work will lay the foundation for future efforts including independent safety studies, kg-scale production, and clinical trials to result in the first new over-the-counter sunscreen active ingredient introduced in over 35 years.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.