Carotenoids - Effective Radical Scavengers for Healthy and Beautiful Skin

Free radicals are involved in various diseases and skin aging. To reduce and prevent this risk, our body produces antioxidants that can neutralize free radicals. However, some antioxidants need to be taken up with food, so a balanced and varied diet is essential for human health and beauty, along with sufficient exercise. Vegetables, especially curly kale, show very good antioxidative capacity due to the presence of carotenoids. As the recommended daily intake of vegetables is usually not consumed, dietary supplements are a good possibility to ingest carotenoids in a controlled and natural way. The positive effect of carotenoid-based dietary supplements on the skin has already been shown in several studies on healthy volunteers. Innovative non-invasive measuring methods have shown that oil extracts from vegetables significantly reduce not only free radicals in the skin but also the age-related breakdown of collagen and have a positive effect on skin parameters such as wrinkle volume. Thus, a balanced mixture of different natural carotenoids contributes to maintaining health and beauty

A Dual Fluorescence–Spin Label Probe for Visualization and Quantification of Target Molecules in Tissue by Multiplexed FLIM–EPR Spectroscopy

Simultaneous visualization and concentration quantification of molecules in biological tissue is an important though challenging goal. The advantages of fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) for visualization, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy for quantification are complementary. Their combination in a multiplexed approach promises a successful but ambitious strategy because of spin label-mediated fluorescence quenching. Here, we solved this problem and present the molecular design of a dual label (DL) compound comprising a highly fluorescent dye together with an EPR spin probe, which also renders the fluorescence lifetime to be concentration sensitive. The DL can easily be coupled to the biomolecule of choice, enabling in vivo and in vitro applications. This novel approach paves the way for elegant studies ranging from fundamental biological investigations to preclinical drug research, as shown in proof-of-principle penetration experiments in human skin ex vivo