Beauty from the deep: cnidarians in cosmetics

Cnidarian proteins are considered useful for the development of therapeutics, as well as this they have also received the attention of biotechnology and the cosmetic industries. In 2017 the first ever sea anemone venom peptide cosmetic, named SensAmone P5, was launched by Mibelle Biochemistry. This synthetic peptide is based on the interaction of APHC1, from Heteractis crispa, on the pain relevant ion channel TRPV1. This peptide reduces TRPV1 signalling in-vitro and skin sensitivity in human volunteers. Aside from venoms, jellyfish mucus and collagen are both used in cosmetic preparations. Many legal definitions of animals do not include the invertebrates and thus it is likely that invertebrate proteins are more acceptable as an alternative to mammalian proteins. Mucins are important proteins for moisturisers and using jellyfish as the source appears to be a suitable alternative to bovine and porcine proteins which were previously used. The main structural protein that supports the soft bodied jellyfish is collagen. This collagen appears to be biocompatible with human tissues and thus has been successful as a cosmetic, as well as being used in-vitro for 3D tissue engineering scaffolds. This short communication will discuss the use of Cnidarian proteins in cosmetics.