Promising anti-melanogenic impacts of Portulaca oleracea on B16F1 murine melanoma cell line: An in-vitro vision

Abstract

Portulaca oleracea (P. oleracea) has been used in folk medicine for treatment of diverse disorders for centuries. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the anti-melanogenic properties of P. oleracea ethanolic extract on B16F1 murine melanoma cell line. The effect of different concentrations of P. oleracea and arbutin as positive control were investigated on the levels of cell viability, cellular tyrosinase, extracellular and intracellular melanin content as well as tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein (Trp)-1, Trp-2, and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) expression levels using real time-PCR, in B16F1 murine melanoma cell line. All different concentrations of P. oleracea (1–100 μg/ml) and arbutin (10 μM) did not significantly change the viability of B16F1 cells. Our results showed that α−melanocyte-stimulating hormones (α-MSH) (100 nM) significantly increased the levels of tyrosinase activity, extracellular, and intracellular melanin content as well as tyrosinase, Trp-1, Trp-2, and MITF expression levels in B16F1 cells. In contrast, arbutin (10 μM) significantly suppressed these changes following the α-MSH stimulation in B16F1 cells. Moreover, P. oleracea (1–100 μg/ml) remarkably mitigated the levels of tyrosinase activity, extracellular and intracellular melanin content as well as tyrosinase, Trp-1, Trp-2, and MITF expression levels following the α-MSH stimulation in B16F1 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The plant possessed anti-melanogenic effects through alleviating tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF expression levels as well as melanin content and it may be a promising candidate for pigmentation disorders. However, further clinical investigations are required to confirm our results.