Investigation of protective effects of lichen acids against ultraviyolet rays

One of the biggest problems of our era seems to be the increasing incidence of skin cancer as a result of perforation in the ozone layer. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in fair-skinned populations. Therefore, discovery and synthesis of natural and synthetic protection factors against UV-B rays are important.In this thesis study, the protective activities to human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT) against 2,5 J/cm2 UV-B radiation of the lichen acids such as (-)- usnic acid, atranorin, gyrophoric acid and vulpinic acid compounds which have potential to absorb UV-B rays were investigated by in vitro methods such as MTT, LDH, ROS assays and DAPI, TRITC-phalloidin staining methods. As a result of the studies, respectively vulpinic acid, gyrophoric acid, atranorin, (-)- usnic acid were defined as capable of protecting HaCaT cells against UV-B radiations.Keywords: Lichen acids, UV-B, MTT, LDH, ROS, DAPI, actin filament