Lozza , Daniel Schmid , Frank Gafner – Mibelle

The high Alpine plant Saponaria pumila is a survival specialist. It weathered the last ice age growing on ice-free mountain peaks, so-called nunataks exposed to constantly low temperatures and high levels of UV radiation. To cope with a harsh environment S. pumila developed adaption strategies, repair mechanisms and protective compounds. These precious substances have now become available for skin care. An extract made from callus cells of S. pumila was shown in vitro to protect dermal stem cells against UV-induced stress and to maintain their stem cell properties. Figure 1: Colonies of dermal progenitor cells growing in three-dimensional spheres. S ha re o f sp he re s iz es ( % ) 120