Investigation of the Anti-Aging Effects of Composite Nanocarriers Based on Autophagy Regulation and Oxidative Stress Inhibition

Focusing on the anti-aging mechanism and efficient utilization of anti-aging active ingredients in the skin is an excellent strategy to mitigate aging. In this study, ribose/collagen/decarboxylated carnitine hydrochloride/palmitoyl tripeptide-1 composite nanocarriers (RCDP NCs) were synthesized using transdermal drug delivery nanotechnology. The drug delivery of composite nanocarriers and the anti-aging mechanism of RCDP NCs were studied through transdermal behavior, cell uptake, cell proliferation, antioxidant enzyme activity, lipid oxidation product expression, β—galactosidase content, autophagy vesicle number, autophagy-related protein expression, and other indicators. The results showed that the composite nanocarriers on the skin could reach a dermal depth of 460.0 μm (4 h). The uptake of RCDP NCs by keratinocytes and fibroblasts increased by 47.37% and 89.11% (4 h), respectively. RCDP NCs promoted cell proliferation, enhanced the activities of the main antioxidant enzymes, and reduced the production of the lipid oxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA). Sequestosome-1 protein (p62) decreased, whereas both the ratio of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 II/microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 I (LC3II/LC3I) and the number of autophagosomes increased, indicating that RCDP NCs promoted autophagy. The drug delivery nanotechnology in this study achieved better transdermal application of active ingredients, which could mitigate skin aging faster and more effectively.