Effect of Arbutin on Melanogenic Proteins in Human Melanocytes

Abstract

The inhibitory effect of arbutin, a naturally occurring beta-D-glucopyranoside derivative of hydroquinone, on melanogenesis was studied biochemically by using human melanocytes in culture. Cells were cultured in the presence of different concentrations of arbutin. The maximum concentration of arbutin that was not inhibitory to growth of the cells was 100 micrograms/ml. At that concentration, melanin synthesis was inhibited significantly by approximately 20% after 5 days, compared with untreated cells. This phenotypic change was associated with the inhibition of tyrosinase and DHICA polymerase activities, and the degree of inhibition was dose dependent. No significant difference in DOPAchrome tautomerase (DT) activity was observed before or after arbutin treatment. Western blotting experiments revealed there were no changes in protein content or in molecular size of tyrosinase, TRP-1 or TRP-2, indicating that inhibition of tyrosinase activity by arbutin might be due to effects at the post-translational level.

Depigmentation of Melanocytes by the Treatment of Extracts from Traditional Chinese Herbs: a Cell Culture Assay

“…For the positive control arbutin, decrease of tyrosinase activity without changes of tyrosinase protein and its mRNA found in melana cells is in accordance with the previous published data that it is simply a tyrosinase inhibitor. 20) However, there are several data without reasonable explanations at present time in results of this study. For example, No.…”

Sesamol decreases melanin biosynthesis in melanocyte cells and zebrafish: Possible involvement of MITF via the intracellular cAMP and p38/JNK signalling pathways

“…Melanin content was estimated by measuring the absorbance at 405 nm using a microplate reader. Arbutin was used as a positive control 30. After incubation under the conditions mentioned above, phase contrast microscopy photographs observed under a Nikon TE2000‐U inverted fluorescence microscope (Nikon Instruments, Tokyo, Japan).…”

Depigmenting Mechanisms of All-Trans Retinoic Acid and Retinol on B16 Melanoma Cells

“…To elucidate the effect of ATRA and that of retinol on DOPAchrome tautomerase activity, assays were performed as described previously, with slight modifications. [22][23][24] B16 melanoma cells stimulated with -MSH or IBMX were treated with ATRA or retinol for 5 d. After treatment, the cells were collected and lysed in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) containing 1% Triton X-100, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), 10 mg/ml aprotinin, and 10 mg/ml leupeptin (Sigma). A spectrophotometric assay of DOPAchrome tautomerase activity was carried out using DOPAchrome as a substrate.…”