Domestic researchers have revealed the process by which blue light from sunlight, LED-based display devices, or indoor lighting damages cellular proteins.
A research team led by Professors Min Doo-young, Kwon Tae-hyuk, and Min Seung-kyu from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) stated on the 6th that they have identified a new pathway for the damage to cellular proteins caused by blue light. The research results were published on Dec. 30 in the international journal Nature Communications.
Blue light is a high-energy visible light that cannot be effectively blocked by typical ultraviolet filters and can reach the retina after passing through the cornea and lens of the eye. It is known that blue light reaching the body can cause oxidative damage to cellular proteins, impairing skin and eye health. When oxygen dissolved in the body absorbs blue light and transforms into reactive oxygen species, these reactive oxygen species disrupt the cellular proteins and oxidize their surfaces, causing damage. At this time, the cellular antioxidant system can neutralize the reactive oxygen species to reduce protein damage.
The research team has identified a new protein damage pathway termed "oxygen trapping photoxicity pathway" in this study. This pathway occurs within the proteins, where the antioxidant system cannot reach. The trapped oxygen inside the protein interacts with specific amino acids that make up the protein, absorbs energy from blue light, and then transforms into reactive oxygen species. The generated reactive oxygen species circulate within the protein, causing protein damage.
The research team discovered this pathway by examining the structure of proteins. Proteins have a complexly folded structure of amino acid chains, with countless spaces in between where small molecules can get trapped. The team substantiated this through various experiments, calculations, statistical methods, and bioinformatics approaches.
Professor Min Doo-young noted, "We have discovered a new protein damage pathway that is fundamentally completely different from typical protein damage pathways and confirmed that it can affect proteins throughout the cell," adding, "The newly discovered protein damage pathway could be a hidden principle behind the aging or diseases of skin and eye tissues caused by blue light."
Reference materials
Nature Communications (2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55168-z