Main Cause of Sunburn Finally Revealed, and It's Not the Reason We've Always Believed
The Daily Galaxy • • health
Key Points:
- New research from the University of Copenhagen and NTU Singapore reveals that RNA damage, rather than DNA mutations, is the primary trigger for sunburn-induced skin inflammation and cell death following UVB exposure.
- The study identifies the ribotoxic stress response (RSR), mediated by the ZAK alpha kinase detecting damaged mRNA, as the key molecular pathway initiating inflammatory signaling and programmed cell death in skin cells.
- Experiments with knockout mice lacking the ZAK alpha gene showed suppressed UV-induced skin inflammation, highlighting ZAK alpha’s central role and suggesting RNA damage precedes and may override DNA-dependent UV damage responses.
- These findings challenge longstanding DNA-centric models of UV damage, prompting a need to revise dermatological education, public health messaging, and therapeutic approaches
