Researchers have identified cilantro fruit extract as a promising ingredient in the study of skin aging. According to recent findings, the extract can selectively remove senescent, or “zombie,” cells while increasing the number of healthy skin cells and supporting collagen production. These aging cells are believed to play an important role in the visible signs of skin aging by affecting the cells around them. The work builds on earlier research in regenerative medicine and hair biology.
Why senescent cells matter
As skin ages, some structural cells become senescent. Instead of functioning normally, these cells release substances that can negatively influence nearby healthy cells, encouraging them to age as well.
These substances are known as SASP, short for senescence-associated secretory phenotype. They include cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and proteases. Together, they contribute to inflammation and are linked to aging and age-related conditions.
A selective approach
Scientists are increasingly exploring senolytics, compounds designed to remove senescent cells without damaging healthy ones. In laboratory experiments, cilantro fruit extract showed this selective effect.
When the extract was added to dermal fibroblasts that had been aged through oxidative stress, it triggered apoptosis, or programmed cell death, only in the senescent cells. Healthy fibroblasts were left untouched.
Researchers then tested the extract in a mixture containing roughly equal numbers of healthy and senescent cells. The number of senescent cells fell, healthy cells increased, and the expression of the aging markers SA-β-Gal and p21 declined.
The increase in healthy fibroblasts was accompanied by higher collagen production, suggesting the extract may help restore some of the skin’s natural functions.
Links to regenerative medicine
The research is rooted in regenerative medicine, which focuses on restoring lost functions by using the body’s own cells. One challenge in this field is that senescent cells can develop during cell culture and release SASP factors that reduce the number of healthy cells.
Finding ways to selectively remove these cells has become an active area of research. The latest results suggest that cilantro fruit extract could contribute to this approach.
The extract was originally identified during research into hair regeneration. Earlier studies found that it increased the number of cells that make up hair follicles. In 1997, researchers developed a cilantro extract that promoted the growth of hair matrix cells and hair root sheath cells, resulting in thicker and more resilient hair.
A growing area of research
Interest in senescent cells continues to grow across the skincare industry. Several active ingredients are being developed to remove these aging cells or limit the formation of new ones.
Recent research has focused on plant stem cell technology, senolytics, flavonoids such as fisetin, cytotoxic CD4+ T cells, fermented camellia seed extract, and proteins involved in cellular aging, including YBX1. Studies have shown that these approaches can eliminate aged fibroblasts or reduce markers associated with cellular senescence.
Researchers continue to investigate how these mechanisms may help slow the progression of skin aging and restore normal skin function.
