EXPLORATION OF PROTEIN FROM SNAIL

(Achatina Fulica) SLIME FOR POTENTIAL ANTI

AGING

Rizky Dwi Larasati, Heni Rachmawati*, Catur Riani

School of Pharmacy, Bandung Institute of Technology
Ganesha 10 Bandung 40132, Indonesia
*Corresponding author : h_rachmawati@fa.itb.ac.id

Presented as : √ oral presentation

 poster presentation

Snail Achatina fulica is one of the most extensively studied snails

due to its economical, ecological and medical importance. Snail
slime is mainly composed of allantoin, glycolic acid, collagen, and
elastin. Collagen and elastin are the most important protein involved
in the process of skin aging prevention. This work is aimed to
explore and characterize the protein presence in snail slime of
Achatina fulica for promising candidate protein to slow the skin
aging process. Snail slime was collected by manual stimulation by
dredging the slime from snail body. The protein in snail slime was
then characterized with SDS PAGE, and quantified using Lowry
method with small modification, as well as the protein
chromatogram analysis. Based on SDS PAGE, it was found bands
with the size of 114.97, 79.67, 68.80, 63.93, and 50.06 kDa. The
protein content of snail slime was 127.94 µg/mL. The
chromatogram analysis using Sirius red/fast green showed that snail
slime was positive for collagen, whereas Verhoeff-Van Goeven
staining showed the positive sign of elastin. Based on this early
results, we conclude that both collagen and elastin, two most
important protein which is able to delay the natural aging process
were present in the snail slime. Further study to test the potential
effect of this snail slime, animal experimentation induced by
intensive light to generate aging is ongoing.
Keywords : Achatina fulica, snail slime, collagen, elastin, antiaging