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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发对人类和环境都更安全的新型防晒霜和紫外线防护产品。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，疼痛的烧伤和皮肤癌，这是美国最常见的癌症形式，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。目前的紫外线过滤剂可以被皮肤吸收，导致激素紊乱，并在环境中持续存在和积累，在那里它们可以伤害野生动物并破坏海洋生态系统。该项目将推进新型防晒霜和紫外线过滤剂的开发，这些防晒霜和紫外线过滤剂由含有紫外线吸收氨基酸的天然食品安全肽组成。这些化合物具有光稳定性、生物可降解性、非吸收性，对人类和环境都是安全的，它们将在皮肤护理和生物安全食品包装领域产生重大影响。由于其生产成本相对较低，因此也有潜力在130亿美元的防晒剂行业中占据相当大的份额。SBIR第一阶段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，并将规模扩大到100 g，以显示与当前异源防晒化合物的成本竞争力和可重复性; 2）优化肽以改善其UV吸光度并研究细菌中的异源表达;以及3）评估肽的化学稳定性、光稳定性并确认无吸收。这将实现总体I期目标，即在100 g规模下可重复地产生安全且可生物降解的UV吸收肽，并进行初始稳定性研究。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，公斤级生产和临床试验，以产生35年来推出的第一种新的非处方防晒活性成分。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

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.