Black Snow, Sun, and Red Ginseng Water Extracts Downregulate the Expression of Genes Related to Melanogenesis in Melan-a Cells

Abstract

A variety of ginseng products are currently available on the market, including black snow ginseng (BSG), sun ginseng (SG), and red ginseng (RG). This study evaluated the effects of Panax ginseng (BSG, SG, RG) water extracts (PGWEs: BSGWE, SGWE, and RGWE, respectively) on melanogenesis-relevant gene expression in melan-a cells. While mRNA expression of tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF-M, were not affected by arbutin treatment, concentration-dependent treatment with PGWEs (25~100 μg/mL) reduced their expression. SGWE treatment, in particular, elicited a remarkable reduction of MITF-M mRNA expression. The protein expression of tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF, were not affected by arbutin treatment. However, depending upon concentration, treatment with PGWEs (25~100 μg/mL) reduced the expression of tyrosinase, TRP-1, and TRP-2 proteins, relative to control cells. It is noted that treatment with PGWEs (25~100 μg/mL), with the exception of RGWE, did not reduce the expression of MITF protein. These results suggest that the underlying mechanism of PGWE hypopigmentation activity could be based on the inhibition of tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related proteins at the transcription level.