• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.612-615
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• 2009

A 10-year-old intact male mixed breed dog was presented with a three-month history of massive oral mass. Physical examination revealed extending mass from the right upper gingiva. No metastasis was found at the time of presentation. Histopathologic examination of biopsied tissue from the oral mass was consistent with a neuroendocrine tumor with generalized epithelioid cells and few spindle cells. There were highly mitoses and no visible melanin granules with H&E staining. Immunohistochemical staining for Melan A was performed on section of tumor and was strongly positive. Diagnosis was made as amelanotic malignant melanoma based on histopathology with Melan A immunohistochemistry. This case study indicates that the Melan A immunohistochemical staining may be valuable to diagnose amelanotic malignant melanoma in dogs.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.340-345
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• 2012

Sarsasapogenin (SAR) is a steroidal sapogenin that is used as starting material for the industrial synthesis of steroids. It has various pharmacological benefits, such as antitumor and antidepressant activities. Since its effect on melanin biosynthesis has not been reported, we used murine melanocyte melan-a cells to investigate whether SAR influences melanogenesis. In this study, SAR significantly increased the melanin content of the melan-a cells from 1 to 10 ${\mu}M$. Based on an enzymatic activity assay using melan-a cell lysate, SAR had no effect on tyrosinase and DOPAchrome tautomerase activities. It also did not affect the protein expression of tyrosinase-related protein 1 and DOPAchrome tautomerase. However, protein levels of tyrosinase and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor were strongly stimulated by treatment with SAR. Therefore, our reports suggest that SAR treatment may induce melanogenesis through the stimulation of tyrosinase and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor expression in melan-a cells.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.69-77
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Scirpi rhizoma ethanol extract (SREE) on skin whitening using in vitro test. In the antioxidative activities, it was found that SREE contains 38.9 mg/g of polyphenol and 74.5 mg/g of flavonoid in total. In the electron donating ability, SREE showed a dose-dependent response, showing a high antioxidative capacity of 86.1% at 1000 ppm. It was found that the maximum permissible level of SREE to Melan-a cells was over 200 ppm, showing a quite low toxicity of SREE against Melan-a cells. Both in the inhibitory measurement for tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis using Melan-a cells, SREE presented a dose-dependent response with excellent efficacy.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.150-152
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• 2009

혈관근육지방종은 지방, 평활근, 두꺼운 벽의 혈관이 다양한 비율로 구성된 흔하지 않은 과오종이며, 이는 결정 경화증을 동반하거나 산발적으로 발생한다. 저자들은 혈관근육지방종이 드물게 발생하는 두경부에서 발생한 귓바퀴 1예, 구개점막 2예의 혈관근육지방종을 보고하고자 한다. 병리소견상, 3예 모두에서 성숙지방조직, 불규칙한 혈관, 그리고 HMB-45와 Melan-A에 음성을 보이는 평활근육세포로 이루어진 조직소견을 보였으며, 여러군데에서 림프구 침윤이 3예 모두에서 관찰되었다. 점막피부 혈관근육지방종으로 진단하였다. 세증례 모두 결절경화증은 동반되지 않았다. 점막피부 혈관근육지방종에서는 혈관주변세포가 HMB-45와 Melan-A에서 음성을 보였으며, 이는 간이나 신장의 혈관근육지방종에서의 특징적인 양성반응과는 다른 점이었다. 간이나 신장에서 생긴 혈관근육지방종과 다른 임상병리적 특징을 비교 기술하고자 두경부에서 발생한 점막피부 혈관근육지방종 3예를 보고한다.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.33 no.3 s.130
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• pp.245-251
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• 2002

Flavonoid seems to have various biological effects. Quercetin is a kind of natural plant flavonoids and has multiple biological effects such as antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenec agent. Melanogenesis is a physiological process resulting in the synthesis of melanin pigments, which play a crucial protective role against skin photocarcinogenesis. This present study was designed to investigate effect of quercetin on proliferation and melanogenesis in Melan-a melanocyte cells. After 48h treatment of cells with quercetin, the cells exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition in their proliferation without apoptosis. Therefore, thε growth retardation by the extract may be due to the cell arrest or cell differentiation. We also investigated the effect of quercetin on melanogenesis of this cells. Melan-a melanocyte cells were grown for 48h in the presence of $0.01-60\;{\mu}g/ml$ quercetin and the total melanin content and activity of tyrosinase were measured. Quercetin stimulated melanization of the cells in low concentrations $(0.01-1.0\;{\mu}g/ml)$, whereas it inhibited melanization in high concentrations $(5.0-30\;{\mu}g/ml)$. It was observed that quercetin differently regulates melanogenesis of Melan-a melanocyte cells dependent on Its concentrations.

• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.173-178
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• 2003

Malignant melanoma is one of the most rapidly increasing cancer types, and patients with metastatic disease have a very poor prognosis. Detection of metastatic melanoma cells in circulation may aid the clinician in assessing tumor progression, metastatic potential, and response to therapy. Tyrosinase is a key enzyme in melanine biosynthesis. The gene is actively expressed in melanocytes and melanoma cells. Melan A is a differentiation antigen that is expressed in melanocytes. The presence of these molecules in blood is considered a marker for circulating melanoma cells. In this study, we analyzed the usefulness of this marker combination I evaluating the response to therapy in the blood of 30 patients with malignant melanoma. Circulating cells were detected by a reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain reaction. The tyrosinase expression was observed in 9 (30%) patients and Melan A in 19 (63.3%) patients before therapy. Following treatment, the tyrosinase mRNA was detected in only one patient, while Melan A transcripts were still present in 14 patients. We suggest that this molecular assay can identify circulating melanoma cells that express melanoma-associated antigens and may provide an early indication of therapy effectiveness.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.27-30
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• 2006

Rodgersia podophylla was a native medicinal plant cultivated in Korea. During the search for a new whitening natural herb, we found that underground part of Rodgersia podophylla showed inhibitory activity against melanin biosynthesis in melan-a cells by brocking tyrosinase activity. In addition, this plant exhibited protective effect on UV-B region. These results suggest that underground part of Rodgersia podophylla might be used as whitening agent for the skin.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.33 no.2 s.129
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• pp.130-136
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• 2002

Melanogenesis is a physiological process resulting in the synthesis of melanin pigments, which play a crucial protective role against skin photocarcinogenesis. The heart wood of Caesalpinia sappan L.(C. sappan) has long been commonly used in Oriental folk medicines to promote blood circulation, and as an emmenagogue, analgesic or anti-inflammatory agent as well as a remedy for thrombosis. From the heartwood, many constituents have been purified and among them, brazilin and hematoxylin are two of the most abundant. This present study was designed to investigate the inhibitory effect of butanol extract from C. sappan on proliferation and melanogenesis in Melan-a cells. After 48 h treatment of these cells with various concentrations of butanol extract, the cells showed a dose-dependent inhibition in their proliferation without apoptotic cell death. Therefore, the growth retardation by the extract may be due to the cell arrest or cell differentiation. We also estimated total melanin content as a final product and activity of tyrosinase, a key enzyme, of melanogenesis in Melan-a cells. The melanin content and tyrosinase activity were deσeased in extract-treated cells in a dose dependent manner compared to control group. The butanol extract also resulted in a decrease of melanin content in ${\alpha}-melanocyte-stimulating$ hormone (MSH)-induced melanogenesis, indicating that butanol extract of C. sappan could be developed as skin whitening components of cosmetics.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.168-174
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• 2016

Anti-melanogenic effects of amaranth (AT), one of the key source of squalene, were investigated in melanocytes. Amaranth seed powder was extracted with water and melan-a cells were treated with various concentrations of AT. By using HPLC, content of myo-inositol, one of potential active components, was measured in the crude extract of AT.AT reduced the melanin content in melan-a melanocytes and down-regulated melanogenic enzyme activity such as tyrosinase, TRP-1 and TRP-2. By regulating melanogenic enzyme activity, AT may be a potential natural source for whitening agent. Myo-inositol was detected in AT by HPLC and may be one of the active compounds from AT involved in the regulation of anti-melanogenesis. In this study, we demonstrated that AT has anti-melanogenesis properties. This new function of amaranth may be useful in the development of new skin-whitening products and its value as food.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.263-268
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate anti-melanogenesis effects of mulberry seed extracts (MSE). MSE inhibited melanogenesis in melan-a cells at $10{\mu}g/mL$ without cytotoxicity. Also, MSE decreased tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1) protein expression in the melan-a cells. To identify the signaling pathway of MSE, the ability of MSE to influence extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) activation was investigated. MSE induced ERK protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, MSE presented inhibition of the body pigmentation in vivo zebrafish model. These results suggest that MSE may be an effective anti-melanogenesis agent regulating the expression of ERK protein and melanogenic enzymes.