Skin Wound Healing Effects of Pectinodesmus javanensis Extract through Activation of TGF-β/SMAD Signaling Pathway

This study examined the wound-healing effect of Pectinodesmus javanensis extract (PJE) in dermal fibroblasts, emphasizing ECM regeneration via the TGF-β/SMAD pathway. The extract contained 1.5 mg GAE/g DM and 4.1 µg QE/g DM, and exhibited DPPH and ABTS radical-scavenging activities of 32.5% and 34.6%, indicating strong antioxidant activity compared to other microalgal species. PJE and lutein inhibited collagenase and elastase by 79.3–78.9% and 77.4–77.3%, while enhancing cell migration by 51.8% and 60.3%, supporting their wound-healing potential. PJE and lutein enhanced cellular structural restoration, increasing fluorescence intensities to 31.2% and 30.1% (DAPI), 21.6% and 13.4% (ZO-1), and 16.9% and 11.1% (F-actin), supporting overall cellular structural integrity. Gene and protein expression analysis revealed that PJE increased TGF-β, SMAD2/3, and COL1A1 levels by 13.3–120.8% and decreased MMP-1 by 58.3%, while lutein elevated these markers by 12.0–129.9% and suppressed MMP-1 by 65.7%, suggesting their involvement in the wound-healing mechanism. Collectively, microalgal lutein represents a promising therapeutic for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications by enhancing migration through TGF-β/SMAD activation.