Ulva prolifera can protect human skin fibroblast from being injured by hydrogen peroxide. This work
studied the composition of Ulva prolifera polysaccharide and identified its physicochemical properties.
The results showed that the cell proliferation of 0.5 mg/mL crude polysaccharide was 154.4% of that in
negative control group. Moreover, ROS detection indices, including DCFH-DA, GSH-PX, MDA and CAT,
indicated that crude polysaccharide could improve cellular ability to scavenge free radical and decrease
the injury on human skin fibroblast by hydrogen peroxide. In purified polysaccharide, the activity of
fraction P1-1 was the highest, with 174.6% of that in negative control group. The average molecular
weight of P1-1 was 137 kD with 18.0% of sulfate content. This work showed the inhibition of hydrogen
peroxide induced injuries on human skin fibroblast by Ulva prolifera polysaccharide, which may further
evaluate the application of U. prolifera on cosmetics.