Pro-pigmenting peptides

Abstract

The invention is directed to the use of at least one peptide of formula: X-(Xaa)-Pro*-(Xaa)-Y (I) With: —n=0, 1 or 2; —m=0 or 1 and if m=0 then n≠0 —Xaais: —An hydrophobic aminoacid selected from Alanine (Ala, A), Valine (Val, V), Methionine (Met, M), Leucine (Leu, L), Isoleucine (Ile, I), Phenylalanine (Phe, F), Proline (Pro, P) and analogues and derivatives thereof; —A polar aminoacid selected from Serine (Ser, S), Threonine (Thr, T), Tyrosine (Tyr, Y), Asparagine (Asn, N), Glutamine (Gln, Q) and analogues and derivatives thereof; —or Glycine (Gly, G); When n=2 the two aminoacids Xaacan be the same or different; —Xaais: —An hydrophobic aminoacid selected from Alanine (Ala, A), Valine (Val, V), Methionine (Met, M), Leucine (Leu, L), Isoleucine (Ile, I), Phenylalanine (Phe, F), Proline (Pro, P) and analogues and derivatives thereof; —A basic aminoacid selected from Arginine (Arg, R), Lysine (Lys, K) and Histidine (His, H) and analogues and derivatives thereof; —Glycine (Gly, G) or Serine (Ser, S); —At the N terminal end of the peptide, X is selected from H, —CO—Rand —SO—R; —At the C terminal end of the peptide, Y is selected from OH, OR, NH, NHRor NRR, Rand Rbeing independently from each other, selected from an alkyle, aryle, aralkyle, alkylaryl, alkoxy and aryloxy group, that can be linear, branched, cyclic, poly-cyclic, non-saturated, hydroxylated, carbonylated, phosphorylated and/or sulphured, with the possibility to have in said group skeleton a O, S and/or N heteroatom; —Pro* corresponding to a Proline, an analogue or derivative thereof; Excluding the peptides where X═H and Y═OH, for a non therapeutical cosmetic pro-pigmenting treatment of skin. The invention also encompasses new tripeptides of formula (I) suitable for a non therapeutical cosmetic treatment of skin.