Effect Of The Semen Sesami Nigrum Water Extract On Melanin Biosynthesis And Gene Expression In Murine Melanoma Cells In Mice

White hair is caused by the lack of melanin in hair, which results from loss of tyrosinase activity in melanoma cells of Hair follicle. Semen Sesami Nigrum is a traditional medicine of curing white hair. To study the effect and mechanism of Semen Sesami Nigrum on white hair cure, we treated murine B16F1 Melanoma cells with 3 different concentrations of water extract of Semen Sesami Nigrum (WES). The effects of WES on cell viability, tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis of B16 murine melanoma cells were studied using Biochemical Molecular Biological and Immunological methods to clarify the mechanism of its stimulating effect on melanogenesis.B16F1 cells were incubated with three different concentrations of WES for 72h and then cell viability, tyrosinase activity, melanin content were respectively measured.The protein and mRNA expression of melanogenesis key enzymes were investigated by western Blotting and RT-PCR.In the range of experimental dose, WES increased B16 cell viability (P>0.05).,and also increased the activity of tyrosinase and melanin content significantly in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). The increasing mRNA and protein expression of TYR and MITF were also observed in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). No effect was observed on either mRNA or protein expression of TRP-1 and TRP-2.WES could Significantly increase the tyrosinase activity, and enhance the subsequent process of melanogenesis in B16 melanoma cells, which may be attributed to the increasing expression of MITF, which Controls the Transcription of TYR gene on mRNA and protein levels.