Application of FTIR microspectroscopy for characterization of biomolecular changes in human melanoma cells treated by sesamol and kojic acid.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Hyperpigmentation is aesthetic undesirable. Sesamol and the standard antimelanogenic agent (kojic acid) were shown to hinder melanogenesis by blocking tyrosinase and reducing melanin content.

OBJECTIVE:

The FTIR microspectroscopy was used in an attempt to find a novel method to define biological alternation in a melanogenesis inhibition of sesamol and kojic acid.

METHODS:

Tyrosinase inhibition and melanin content of sesamol and kojic acid were evaluated. The FTIR microspectroscopy was adopted to define the vibrational characteristic involved with the melanogenesis in the untreated SK-MEL2 cells vs. the sesamol- and kojic-treated SK-MEL2 cells.

RESULTS:

Sesamol and kojic acid inhibited mushroom tyrosinase at IC₅₀ of 0.33 μg/ml and 6.1±0.4 μg/ml, respectively. Moreover, 30 μg/ml sesamol inhibited 23.55±8.25% cellular tyrosinase activity in human SK-MEL2 cells, while 600 μg/ml kojic acid inhibited 33.9±1.4% cellular tyrosinase activity in the same cells. In the SK-MEL2-treated with two inhibitors, the FTIR spectra assigned to the lipid and nucleic acid bands were significantly depleted with the secondary protein structure shifted to a more β-pleated secondary protein one.

CONCLUSION:

Both sesamol and kojic acid display a similar pattern of antimelanogenesis activity albeit to a different degree. The mechanism of their whitening effect may be via the alteration of (a) the enzyme conformation disallowing the ordinary enzyme-substrate interaction and maybe (b) the integrity of the lipid-containing melanosome. Our results support the alternative use of FTIR microspectroscopy as a simple and reagent-free method for characterization of biomolecular changes in human melanoma cells.

• Authors: Montra Srisayam, Natthida Weerapreeyakul, Sahapat Barusrux, Waraporn Tanthanuch, Kanjana Thumanu
• Journal: Journal of dermatological science (J Dermatol Sci) Vol. 73 Issue 3 Pg. 241-50 (Mar 2014) ISSN: 1873-569X [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 24296160 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2013 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Benzodioxoles
• Phenols
• Pyrones
• kojic acid
• sesamol

Topics

• Benzodioxoles (pharmacology)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Cell Survival (drug effects)
• Humans
• Melanoma (drug therapy, metabolism, pathology)
• Phenols (pharmacology)
• Principal Component Analysis
• Pyrones (pharmacology)
• Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared (methods)