fairfolio
Saved Projects

Protective Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Against Oxidative Stress-induced Collagen Degradation of Tilapia Fish Scales

CSEF · 2023 Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology (Senior Division)

Kate Chiang, Anjali Mani

Overview

Background: Aging-associated oxidative stress and free radical generation leads to collagen degradation and subsequent reduced skin elasticity, bone degeneration and organ dysfunction. Omega-3 fatty acids are potent free radical scavengers and exhibit anti-inflammatory properties in numerous pathologies. However, the protective role of omega-3 fatty acids against oxidative stress-induced collagen degradation during aging remains to be established. Materials and Methods: Collagen samples were isolated from tilapia fish scales sourced from a local 99 Ranch Market, Artesia, CA, USA. Samples were treated with hydroxyl free radicals generated with Fenton reaction and were subjected to eicosapentaenoic (EPA) acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), EPA:DHA (1:4) or oil tablets (320 mg EPA: 200 mg DHA). SDS-PAGE electrophoresis (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Hercules, CA) was carried out with or without dithiothreitol or chloroacetamide at Gretchen Whitney High School, Cerritos, CA. Results: Hydroxyl-treated collagen samples exhibited increased electrophoretic mobility compared to non-treated controls in both the chloroacetamide and non-chloroacetamide groups. Control samples run with or without DTT did not noticeably differ. In the non-chloroacetamide group, electrophoretic mobility of collagen samples pretreated with EPA or DHA was comparable to hydroxyl-treated samples, but was noticeably reduced in EPA:DHA- and oil-treated samples similar to controls. In samples run in chloroacetamide, hydroxyl-induced increase in electrophoretic mobility was further promoted by pretreatment with EPA, DHA, EPA:DHA or oil. Conclusion/Discussion: A combination of DHA and EPA protects against hydroxyl-induced collagen damage, suggesting the potential benefit of prophylactic fatty acid supplementation to preserve collagen integrity during aging.

Source coverage

This record comes from a published award list, not a complete project archive. Its abstract comes from CSEF's public project showcase as archived by the Internet Archive before judging (https://web.archive.org/web/20230401224130/https://ca-csef.zfairs.com/showcase/ShowcaseInfo?f=838e60b7-ea75-46e8-865c-fde4864244b3); the version presented may differ.

Awards (1)

  • Sponsored Award: Drs. S. & C.C. Kar Award

Competition history

  • CSEF 2023 Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology (Senior Division) · Entry S0526

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google