Abstract

BackgroundMelanin is a pigment, which is widely distributed in organisms. In humans, melanin pigments determine eye, hair, and skin color and protect the skin from damage by ultraviolet radiation; however, immoderate distribution of melanin in the skin causes discoloration. In the present study, we screened methanolic extracts from leaves of 47 plant species, most of which are native to East Asia, for the inhibitory activity against melanogenesis.MethodsB16 melanoma 4A5 cells were used in all assays conducted in this study. Melanin content assay was performed using methanolic extracts from leaves of 47 plant species. Cytotoxicity of the extract from leaves of Sorbaria sorbifolia var. stellipila Max. (SME) was evaluated by WST-8 assay. Tyrosinase activity was determined using the lysate of α-MSH-stimulated B16 melanoma 4A5 cells and L-dopa as a colorimetric substrate. Melanogenic gene expression was determined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).ResultsSME showed the highest inhibitory activity among tested samples without cytotoxicity. SME exhibited the inhibition potency for the enzymatic activity of tyrosinase. In addition, qRT-PCR result displayed that SME downregulates the expression of melanogenic genes including tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and the transcription factor MITF.ConclusionOverall results revealed that the extract from leaves of S. sorbifolia var. stellipila Max. has a potential to be used as a skin whitening agent.

Highlights

  • Melanin is a pigment, which is widely distributed in organisms

  • After screening methanolic extracts from leaves of various plant species, most of which are native to East Asia, for the inhibitory activity on melanogenesis, we found the anti-melanogenesis activity in the extract from Sorbaria sorbifolia var. stellipila Max

  • B16 melanoma 4A5 cells were treated with various concentrations of SME for 72 h, and the amount of melanin was determined by measuring the absorbance of cell lysates

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Summary

Introduction

Melanin is a pigment, which is widely distributed in organisms. Melanin pigments determine eye, hair, and skin color and protect the skin from damage by ultraviolet radiation; immoderate distribution of melanin in the skin causes discoloration. Melanin pigments are widely distributed in organisms ranging from bacteria, plants, to animals (Solano 2014). Melanin pigments determine eye, hair, and skin color and protect the skin from damage by ultraviolet (UV) radiation (Costin and Hearing 2007); immoderate distribution of melanin in the skin causes (2020) 4:7 induces the expression of melanogenic enzymes including tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and TRP-2 (Vachtenheim and Borovanský 2010). In the absence of thiol materials, dopaquinone is converted to eumelanin (Burchill et al 1986). The proportion and amount of pheomelanin and eumelanin mainly determine the phenotype of human skin color (Ito and Wakamatsu 2003)

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