pep_35E7UW, a natural peptide with cutaneous anti-ageing effects discovered within the Oryza sativa proteome through machine learning

Cutaneous ageing is realised through two distinct processes, namely intrinsic and extrinsic ageing. Intrinsic ageing, which is regarded as an inexorable fate, is largely dictated, and ultimately predetermined, by genetics.1–3 Extrinsic ageing, however, is induced by environmental factors such as exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR), nicotine and air pollutants, and is therefore considered to be under a certain degree of voluntary control.4 The effects of intrinsic and extrinsic ageing have discrete manifestations; with chronological skin ageing typified by atrophy and finer wrinkles, and extrinsic ageing characterised by epidermal thickening, discoloration and deeper wrinkles.5 In spite of this, interestingly, the molecular pathways of intrinsic and extrinsic ageing largely converge,6–8 with the effects of UV induced photo ageing regarded as a superimposition on to those of intrinsic ageing.2,6,7,9