Purpose: In this study, we investigate the effect of Coptis chinensis extract (CCE) on matrix metalloprotease 1 (MMP1) expression in dermal fibroblasts. Methods: Human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) were used to assess the effect of CCE on oxidative stress-induced MMP1 expression. A water-soluble tetrazolium salt (WST-1) assay was conducted to determine the cytotoxicity of CCE in HDFs. To investigate whether CCE has a protective effect on oxidative stress-induced MMP1 downregulation, HDFs were pretreated with CCE (2.5 and 5 µg/mL) for 9 h, and then with 200 µM H 2 O 2 for 3 h. Total RNAs were collected and the level of MMP1 expression was determined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay with its specific primers. Also, luciferase reporter gene assay for activator protein-1 (AP-1) activity was performed with AP-1 luciferase reporter gene constructs transfected into HDFs. Furthermore, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p-JNK protein levels were detected by western blot analysis. Results: Lower concentration of CCE (<5 µg/mL) showed little cytotoxicity in HDFs. Pre-treatment of the cells with CCE significantly inhibited H 2 O 2-induced MMP1 downregulation. Further experiments revealed that CCE-mediated MMP1 downregulated was mediated via suppression of AP-1 transcriptional activity. Moreover, western blot analysis revealed that CCE inhibited the phosphorylation and activation of JNK, which is known to enhancing AP-1 activation. Therefore, these results indicate that CCE regulates MMP1 expression via JNK/AP-1 signaling pathway in HDFs. Conclusion: These results in this paper show that CCE has a protective effect on oxidative stress-induced MMP1 expression in HDFS and may uses as a possible reagent on anti-aging cosmetics.