Lactobacillus plantarum as an Anti-Photoaging Agent: Computational Analysis of Bioactive Compounds and Protein Targets

This in-silico study will describe the involvement of L. plantarum in preventing photoaging. The metabolite products of L. plantarum were determined from the literature and searched by using the PubChem database. Prediction of metabolite product activities used the Structure Analysis Relationship (SAR) approach. Target association analysis and pharmacology network analysis were performed. Functional annotation was analyzed to determine the function of a gene identified at the intersection of the Venn diagram. The bioactive compounds of L. plantarum consist of lactic acid, lipoteichoic acid, and hyaluronic acid, hence it has an antiaging potential. There were 99 target proteins interacting with L. plantarum and related to photoaging. Based on functional annotation analysis, L. plantarum could play roles in keratinization, keratinocyte differentiation, ceramide biosynthetic process, establishment of the skin barrier, removal of superoxide radicals, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), nuclear factor kappa B (NF)-kappa B, KEAP-NFE2L2, as well as antiaging pathways. This in-silico study needs further in vitro as well as in vivo studies to validate the findings, particularly in the form of clinical trials. The bioactive compounds of L. plantarum have an antiaging potential, particularly hyaluronic acid.