Resveratrol, a polyphenol present in grapes and red wine, exerts wide biological properties including antioxidant, chemoprevention and cardioprotective effects. It was recently reported that resveratrol attenuates the oxidative DNA damage in neuronal cells. However, whether resveratrol attenuates the UVB-induced cell death in skin still remains largely unknown. In this study, to confirm the photoprotection properties of resveratrol, we investigated the effect of the pretreatment of resveratrol on UVB-treated HaCaT cells and molecular mechanisms concerning apoptotic pathways. Our data showed that HaCaT cells markedly decreased cell proliferation rates after UVB irradiation. Notably, the pretreatment of resveratrol on UVB irradiation resulted in an increase in cell survival which concomitantly reduced the reactive oxygen species production. Furthermore, the activation of caspase-3 and -8 was partially decreased in resveratrol-pretreated HaCaT cells, implying that the attenuation of caspase-3 and -8 activation is involved in cell survival after UVB irradiation. Thus, our data indicate that resveratrol may be a promising photoprotection agent, used in sunscreen products, to reduce cell death in UV-damaged skin.

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