Abstract
The effects of 120 methanol extracts prepared from bark and heartwood of 69 types of Japanese wood on the melanin production of B16 melanoma cells were examined. The melanin content of B16 melanoma cells was determined spectrophotometrically at 405nm. The extracts were also examined for their effects on cell viability. We found that the methanol extracts of Fagus crenata (buna, wood, 100μg/ml), Sapium sebiferum (Nankinhaze, wood, bark, 10μg/ml), and Zelkova serrata (keyaki, wood, 10μg/ml) greatly inhibited the melanin production of B16 melanoma cells without significant cytotoxicity. However, these extracts did not inhibit tyrosinase activity at the concentration of 100μg/ml. These findings indicate that the depigmenting mechanism of these extracts involves the suppression of some pigmenting signals in stimulating melanogenesis rather than the inhibition of tyrosinase activity.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Shimizu K, Kondo R, Sakai K, Lee SH, Sato H (1998) The inhibitory components from Artocarpus incisus on melanin biosynthesis. Planta Med 64:408–412
Garcia A, Fulton JE Jr (1996) The combination of glycolic acid and hydroquinone or kojic acid for the treatment of melasma and related conditions. Dermatol Surg 22:443–447
Virador VM, Kobayashi N, Matsunaga J, Hearing VJ (1999) A standardized protocol for assessing regulators of pigmentation. Anal Biochem 270:207–219
Curto EV, Kwong C, Hermersdörfer H, Glatt H, Santis C, Virador V, Hearing VJ, Dooley TP (1999) Inhibitors of mammalian melanocyte tyrosinase: in vitro comparisons of alkyl esters of gentisic acid with other putative inhibitors. Biochem Pharmacol 57:663–672
Halaban R, Langdon R, Birchall N, Cuono C, Baird A, Scott G, Moellmann G, McGuire J (1988) Basic fibroblast growth factor from human keratinocytes is a natural mitogen for melanocytes. J Cell Biol 107:1611–1619
Imokawa G, Miyagishi M, Yada Y (1995) Endothelin-1 as a new melanogen: coordinated expression of its gene and the tyrosinase gene in UVB-exposed human epidermis. J Invest Dermatol 105:32–37
Thody AJ (1999) Alpha-MSH and the regulation of melanocyte function. Ann NY Acad Sci 885:217–229
Shimizu K, Geng XL, Hashiguchi M, Suhara H, Fukunaga S, Yasutake S, Kondo R, Tsutsui M, Sato I (2003) Indole-3-carbaldehyde: a tyrosinase inhibitor from fungus YL185. J Wood Sci 49:349–354
Dooley TP, Gadwood RC, Kilgore K, Thomasco LM (1994) Development of an in vitro primary screen for skin depigmentation and antimelanoma agents. Skin Pharmacol 7:88–200
Kumar M, Flurkey WH (1991) Activity, isoenzymes and purity of mushroom tyrosinase in commercial preparations. Phytochemistry 30:3899–3902
Cabanes J, Chazarra S, Garcia-Carmona F (1994) Kojic acid, a cosmetic skin whitening agent, is a slow-binding inhibitor of catecholase activity of tyrosinase. J Pharm Pharmacol 46:982–985
Hui WH, Fung TL, Ng KK (1969) An examination of euphorbiaceae of Hong Kong. V. Phytochemistry 8:331–332
Kim JH, Lee HJ, Kim GS, Choi DH, Lee SS, Kang JK, Chae C, Paik NW, Cho MH (2004) Inhibitory effects of 7-hydroxy-3-methoxy-cadalene on 4-(methylinitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced lung tumorigenesis in A/J mice. Cancer Lett 213:139–145
Gilchrest BA, Park HY, Eller MS, Yaar M (1996) Mechanisms of ultraviolet light-induced pigmentation. Photochem Photobiol 63:1–10
Cho YH, Kim JH, Park SM, Lee BC, Pyo HB, Park HD (2006) New cosmetic agents for skin whitening from Angelica dahurica. J Cosmet Sci 57:11–21
Kobayashi A, Hachiya A, Ohuchi A, Kitahara T, Takema Y (2002) Inhibitory mechanism of an extract of Althaea officinalis L. on endothelin-1-induced melanocyte activation. Biol Pharm Bull 25:229–234
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Part of this study was presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Fukuoka, Japan, March 2003
About this article
Cite this article
Shimizu, K., Fukunaga, S., Yoshikawa, K. et al. Screening of extracts of Japanese woods for melanin biosynthesis inhibition. J Wood Sci 53, 153–160 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0824-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-006-0824-1