AUTHOR=Moschetti Anthony , Fox Colin A. , McGowen Samuel , Ryan Robert O. TITLE=Lutein nanodisks protect human retinal pigment epithelial cells from UV light-induced damage JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nanotechnology VOLUME=4 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nanotechnology/articles/10.3389/fnano.2022.955022 DOI=10.3389/fnano.2022.955022 ISSN=2673-3013 ABSTRACT=

The hydrophobic carotenoid, lutein, was conferred with aqueous solubility upon formulation into reconstituted discoidal high density lipoprotein particles, termed lutein nanodisks (ND). When formulated with phosphatidylcholine (PC), apolipoprotein (apo) A-I and lutein (formulation ratio = 5 mg PC/2 mg apoA-I/1 mg lutein), lutein solubilization efficiency in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) was ∼90%. The UV/Vis absorbance maxima for lutein ND in PBS were red shifted by 6–13 nm versus the corresponding lutein absorbance maxima in ethanol. FPLC gel filtration chromatography gave rise to a single major absorbance peak in the size range of ND. Incubation of cultured ARPE-19 cells with lutein ND resulted in lutein uptake, as determined by HPLC analysis of cell extracts. Compared to control incubations, ARPE-19 cells incubated with lutein ND were protected from UV light-induced loss of cell viability. Consistent with this, reactive oxygen species generation, induced by exposure to UV irradiation, was lower in lutein-enriched cells than in control cells. Thus, uptake of ND-associated lutein protects ARPE-19 cells from UV light-induced damage. Taken together, the data indicate ND provide an aqueous lutein delivery vehicle for biotechnological or therapeutic applications.