Abstract
Forsythia fructus has been shown to have antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-aging and whitening effects. Hoechunyangkyeok-san (Forsythia viridissima-prescription) is a traditional herbal medicine, which has been clinically used for treating febrile and inflammatory disorders. This work was carried out to investigate the skin whitening effects of Forsythia viridissima-prescription extract (a hydrolyzed extract of Hoechunyangkyeok-san: SID White HYC) on skin. The effects of SID White HYC were assessed the melanin contents in B161 melanoma cells and the pigmented equivalent with HMB45 and Fontana Masson staining in 3D skin model. Then, we examined the expression of major pigment enzymes regulating melanin synthesis and melanosome transport related proteins in B16F1 cells. SID White HYC significantly inhibited the melanin synthesis (56.7% and 30.6% inhibition at 100 μg/mL, intracellular and secreted, respectively) in B16F1 cells and 3D skin model. In addition, western blotting analysis showed that SID White HYC reduced the expression of melanin synthesis and melanosome transport related proteins in B16F1 cells. In clinical trials, the cream containing 0.05% SID White HYC showed skin depigmentation effect without any irritation. These results suggest that SID White HYC may be useful inhibition of melanogenesis and melanosome transport. Therefore, SID White HYC may have potential as a skin-whitening ingredient in cosmetics.
Highlights
In mammalian hair and skin, melanogenesis is occurred within melanosomes, the specialized lysosome-related vesicles of melanocytes located in the basal layer of the epidermis [1].Melanosomes contain three enzymes that are absolutely necessary for the synthesis of both types of melanin
B16F1 cells were exposed to various concentration of SID White HYC, and cell viability was measured by MTT assay
To investigate the inhibitory effect of SID White HYC on melanogenesis, the melanin contents of the B16F1 cells were measured after treatment with SID White HYC
Summary
Melanosomes contain three enzymes that are absolutely necessary for the synthesis of both types of melanin (pheomelanin and eumelanin). The second and third enzymes are Tyrosinase-Related Protein-1 (TRP-1) and Dopachrome Tautomerase (DCT), which are more concerned with the generation of different types of melanin [2] [3]. The distribution of melanin in the skin is completed by melanosome transport to keratinocytes. At the cell dendrite tips, the Rab27a-melanophilin complex recruits the actin-dependent motor protein, myosinVa (Myo5a), allowing melanosomes to move on the actin 4 network. Rab27a, melanophilin (Mlph) and Myo5a make a complex to link melanosomes to the F-actin based motors [5]. The GTP bound Rab27a interacts with Mlph that in turn recruits Myo5a to form a tripartite complex [7]
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