Relation of Chitosan oligosaccharide-induced Melanin Production to The Activity and Expression of Tyrosinase in B16 Melanoma Cells

To investigate the effect of chitosn oligosaccharide on skin care, we measured tyrosinase activity and melanin production in B16 melanoma cells, and elastase and hyaluronidase activity. Chitosan oligosaccharide itself did not have any anti-oxidant activity in DPPH radical scavenging, and did not affect the proliferation of B16 melanoma cells. Chitosan oligosaccharide dose-depednetly increased mealnin production in the absence or presence of MSH. However, chitosan oligosaccharide did not have any influence on the tyrosinase activity and tyrosinase expression in B16 melanoma cells. (omitted)