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Dr Fred Zülli, Mibelle Biochemistry “10 YEARS: PLANT STEM CELLS”

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N N Interview with: Dr Fred Zülli, Managing Director, Mibelle Biochemistry Buchs, Switzerland www.mibellebiochemistry.com

10 years of plant stem cells

Interview | On the occasion of the 10 th anniversary of plant stem cells, Dr Fred Zülli from Mibelle Biochemistry looks atthe advantages and sustainability of plant stem cells

and the potential of biotechnology for cosmetics. Biochemistry Mibelle photos:

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COSSMA: What gave rise to the How do plant stem cells work in creation of plant stem cells for cosmetics? RESEARCH cosmetics? R&D into nano- The skin undergoes a constant cell technology , Dr Fred Zülli, Managing Director, turnover in order to maintain, re- neuroscience or Mibelle Biochemistry: At In-Cos- new and repair its tissue. Adult stem cells helps metics 2008 in Amsterdam, we stem cells that reside in special to bring innovation launched the product PhytoCell- niches in different layers of the to the cosmetics Tec Malus Domestica as a new ac- skin are responsible for this re- industry tive onto the market, and in do- generative capacity. Stem cells are ing so we pioneered the trend of defined by their ability to self-re- stem cell cosmetics. More than ten new and differentiate into mature years after the Amsterdam launch, specialised cell types. However, this trend continues to grow. Re- stem cells are also subject to age- Plant stem cells search into life science topics such ing which leads to reduced vital- can be obtained fig. 1: Callus tissue on agar plate as nanotechnology, neuroscience ity and a decrease in the stem cell with the help of or stem cells is a very promising pool. The depletion of stem cell plant cell culture and successful approach for bring- activity is a major cause of skin technology ing innovation to the cosmetic in- ageing. Therefore, cosmetic ingre- dustry. dients that vitalise skin stem cells irradiation. The most convincing provide a real anti-ageing poten- study showed that the application How are plant stem cells creat- tial, see fig. 2. of plant stem cell extract led to the ed? The large-scale formation of a 3-dimensional skin Do you have data which prove production of tissue out of aged skin stem cells. Plant stem cells can be obtained the effect of plant stem cells on plant stem cells is a with the help of plant cell cul- skin stem cells? major challenge But how can plant stem cells ture technology. This involves a work on human stem cells and plant material, such as a leaf or a Extracts of different plant stem how does this benefit cosmetic fruit, which is then wounded and cells were tested on human ke- formulations? incubated on special agar plates, ratinocyte progenitor cells (epi- see fig. 1. The plant develops a dermal stem cells). Skin stem cell Research into The activity of plant stem cells on wound-healing tissue called cal- cultures treated with plant stem exosomes is rele- human stem cells is based on the lus. This tissue is based on de-dif- cell extracts showed an increased vant for under- fact that stem cells require spe- ferentiated cells, which are pluri- vitality in a colony forming effi- standing cial nutrients in order to be able potent stem cells. cacy (CFE) assay. Further studies cell-to-cell to grow. An extract of plant stem communication showed that plant stem cells can cells contains precisely the rele- Please explain to us how these protect skin stem cells against UV vant nutrients to vitalise human plant stem cells can be pro- duced for cosmetic applica- tions?

The large-scale production of plant stem cells is a major chal- lenge. From the plate, the cells have to be transferred into liq- uid media containing sugar. This means that the entire process of growing the cells has to be con- ducted under strict sterile condi- tions which is difficult to realise as the plant stem cells grow very slowly in comparison to bacteria. However, we solved this problem by constructing our own dispos- able bag reactor called 5-wave bio-reactors. These reactors allow us to simultaneously cultivate five times 25 litres of cell cultures. fig. 2: Skin renewal by epidermal stem cells

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More information at “Our aim is to find new actives that will www.cossma.com , web code 100197 Your access codes for April : protect the skin against epigenetic effects” User name: cossma4 Password: body Dr Fred Zülli, Managing Director, Mibelle Biochemistry

stem cells. An extract of plant strated that our product activates Tec technology of Mibelle Biochem- stem cells has a different compo- mesenchymal stem cells to release istry was recognised at the United sition from a normal plant extract. CULTIVATION more exosomes which then acti- Nations Conference on Sustaina- In clinical studies we managed to Cultivating stem vate the collagen production of ble Development in Rio de Janeiro prove that different plant stem cell cells requires no fibroblasts. Finding out how ex- 2012 as a breakthrough technol- extracts can improve the density further biomaterial osomes work is a very new field ogy for the development of new of the skin, reduce wrinkles and from the wild of science and relevant for under- natural cosmetic ingredients. increase the skin renewal. standing cell-to-cell communica- tion. Have you developed other ingre- What were the latest findings in dients by biotechnology? the field of plant stem cell tech- Plant stem cells are produced nology? with the help of biotechnology. Yes, we have. Over the last few What role does biotechnology years, we have developed two In the past ten years, our com- play in Mibelle Biochemistry’s new ingredients that are based pany has launched seven different research? on unique technologies. One in- plant stem cell products that have Once mesen- gredient is based on the cultiva- come from different plants such chymal stem Biotechnology is part of our strat- tion of a red snow algae in pho- as apple, grape, alpine rose, com- cells have been egy to create innovative actives in to-bioreactors in a cold room. In frey, argan, saponaria and goji. activated, released a sustainable way. Our first stem contrast to this, the other ingredi- With the help of new cell culture exosomes acti- cell product was based on an old ent is based on the cultivation of techniques, we proved that dif- vate the collagen apple cultivar c alled Uttwiler Spät- a moss protonema tissue culture ferent stem cells activated differ- production of lauber. In fact, today, there is only in sterile bags, see fig. 3. fibroblasts ent biochemical mechanisms of a small number of trees of this rare skin stem cells and hair stem cells. apple cultivar still alive. However, After stem cell cosmetics, what In our latest research we demon- only very few of these apples were do you think will be the next fu- required in order to establish the ture key topics in the world of plant cell culture of this origin. cosmetics? We have now been cultivating the stem cells for over 10 years with- We are convinced that the new out using further biomaterial from findings in epigenetics will be in- the wild. tegrated into novel developments of actives. Is this thus a contribution to the The influence of the environment, big trend of sustainability? for example air pollution and psy- chological stress, can cause epi- Yes, it is. The concept of using rare genetic modifications in the skin. and exotic plants in cosmetics ap- These negative effects will be peals to consumers and research- long-lasting and could even be ers alike. Unfortunately, the sus- passed on to the next generation. tainable use of these plants is very This is why, in our research we often not possible since the plants are focusing on finding innovative cannot be cultivated. The produc- active ingredients that will help to tion of plant stem cells from en- protect the skin against epigenetic dangered plant species overcomes effects such as DNA methylation, this problem because only small histone modifications or miRNA amounts of the plant are needed expression. Q to start the stem cell culture in bi- Additional information can be found fig. 3: Snow algae and moss tissue cultivation in bioreactors oreactors. Therefore, the PhytoCell- on the Internet – see Internet panel

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