Natural Trichomes as a Functional Biomaterial Platform With Photoprotective and Regenerative Properties

Abstract

Effective skin repair and photoprotection require multifunctional, simple, and ready-to-use biomaterials. We focused on natural tea trichomes (TH), a class of plant-derived microfilaments abundantly distributed on tea leaves, as a potential candidate biomaterial that fulfills these criteria. TH exhibited a uniform fibrous morphology with a diameter of approximately 9.1 μm and a high polyphenol content of 176 μg/mg. In vitro ABTS⁺ and DPPH assays confirmed its effective radical scavenging capacity. In vivo studies demonstrated rapid hemostasis with negligible hemolysis, underscoring its biosafety. In a murine full-thickness wound model, TH significantly accelerated tissue regeneration, achieving 88.9% wound closure on day 10 versus 77.6% in controls, by promoting M1-to-M2 macrophage polarization, enhancing collagen deposition, and stimulating hair follicle neogenesis. Furthermore, TH, whether applied alone or blended into a hyaluronic acid (HA) matrix, effectively mitigated UV-induced epidermal hyperplasia, collagen degradation, and inflammatory cytokine expression. This work demonstrates that TH can serve as a sustainable, multifunctional platform for skin repair, with regenerative and photoprotective properties as its primary demonstrated functions.