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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Generation of Self-assembled Vascularized Human Skin Equivalents
Published on: February 12, 2021
Biological role of vitamin C in keratinocytes
Maria Valeria Catani1, Isabella Savini, Antonello Rossi
1Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
Epidemiological studies have suggested an association between vitamin C (and other antioxidant vitamins) and cancer risk. However, the mechanisms accounting for prevention have not been extensively investigated. In skin, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) exerts different biological roles, including photoprotective effects and participation in collagen synthesis. This paper reports new findings about additional functions of the vitamin. Vitamin C counteracts oxidative stress via transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms; this modulation may interfere with the activity of redox-sensitive transcription factors, commitment to differentiation or cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis in response to DNA damage. All of these vitamin C-mediated responses might be important in different cell types, allowing for the maintenance of body homeostasis.
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