An Extract from the Plant Deschampsia antarctica Protects Fibroblasts from Senescence Induced by Hydrogen Peroxide

The Antarctic plant Deschampsia antarctica (DA) is able to survive in extreme conditions thanks to its special mechanism of protection against environmental aggressions. In this work, we investigated whether an aqueous extract of the plant (EDA) retains some of its defensive properties and is able to protect our skin against common external oxidants. We evaluated EDA over young human fibroblasts and exposed to H₂O₂, and we measured cell proliferation, viability, and senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal). We also tested the expression of several senescence-associated proteins including sirtuin1, lamin A/C, the replicative protein PCNA, and the redox protein thioredoxin 2. We found that EDA promoted per se cell proliferation and viability and increased the expression of anti-senescence-related markers. Then, we selected a dose of H₂O₂ as an inductor of senescence in human fibroblasts, and we found that an EDA treatment 24 h prior H₂O₂ exposure increased fibroblast proliferation. EDA significantly inhibited the increase in SA-β-Gal levels induced by H₂O₂ and promoted the expression of sirtuin 1 and lamin A/C proteins. Altogether, these results suggest that EDA protects human fibroblasts from cellular senescence induced by H₂O₂, pointing to this compound as a potential therapeutic agent to treat or prevent skin senescence.