Effects of sugars on melanogenesis in cultured melanoma cells

The metabolism of melanin synthesis-From melanocytes to melanoma

Melanin synthesis involves the successful coordination of metabolic pathways across multiple intracellular compartments including the melanosome, mitochondria, ER/Golgi, and cytoplasm. While pigment production offers a communal protection from UV damage, the process also requires anabolic and redox demands that must be carefully managed by melanocytes. In this report we provide an updated review on melanin metabolism, including recent data leveraging new techniques, and technologies in the field of metabolism. We also discuss the many aspects of melanin synthesis that intersect with metabolic pathways known to impact melanoma phenotypes and behavior. By reviewing the metabolism of melanin synthesis, we hope to highlight outstanding questions and opportunities for future research that could improve patient outcomes in pigmentary and oncologic disease settings.

Beneficial Effects of Marine Algae-Derived Carbohydrates for Skin Health

Marine algae are considered to be an abundant sources of bioactive compounds with cosmeceutical potential. Recently, a great deal of interest has focused on the health-promoting effects of marine bioactive compounds. Carbohydrates are the major and abundant constituent of marine algae and have been utilized in cosmetic formulations, as moisturizing and thickening agents for example. In addition, marine carbohydrates have been suggested as promising bioactive biomaterials for their various properties beneficial to skin, including antioxidant, anti-melanogenic and skin anti-aging properties. Therefore, marine algae carbohydrates have potential skin health benefits for value-added cosmeceutical applications. The present review focuses on the various biological capacities and potential skin health benefits of bioactive marine carbohydrates.

The effects of vitamin B6 compounds on cell proliferation and melanogenesis in B16F10 melanoma cells

B16F10 murine melanoma cells are frequently used for the study of cancer and melanogenesis. The cells are usually cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium, with the addition of 20 µM pyridoxal (PL) or pyridoxine (PN) for vitamin B₆. The difference between these vitamin B₆ compounds is thought not to affect cell proliferation, whereas their influence on other physiological effects is poorly understood. In the present study, the effects of PL and PN on cell proliferation and melanogenesis in B16F10 cells were compared. At 500 µM PL significantly suppressed cell growth but the growth inhibitory effect of PN was weak. Although neither of the vitamin B₆ compounds affected cell growth at 20 µM, melanogenesis was suppressed by 20 µM PL compared with the effect of PN. In addition, the expression levels of tyrosinase, which is the rate-limiting enzyme, correlated with the melanin content. The results of the present study indicate that PL may be more useful for melanoma therapy and suppression of skin pigmentation than PN. The results also signify the importance of medium selection for cell culture.

The Development of Sugar-Based Anti-Melanogenic Agents

The regulation of melanin production is important for managing skin darkness and hyperpigmentary disorders. Numerous anti-melanogenic agents that target tyrosinase activity/stability, melanosome maturation/transfer, or melanogenesis-related signaling pathways have been developed. As a rate-limiting enzyme in melanogenesis, tyrosinase has been the most attractive target, but tyrosinase-targeted treatments still pose serious potential risks, indicating the necessity of developing lower-risk anti-melanogenic agents. Sugars are ubiquitous natural compounds found in humans and other organisms. Here, we review the recent advances in research on the roles of sugars and sugar-related agents in melanogenesis and in the development of sugar-based anti-melanogenic agents. The proposed mechanisms of action of these agents include: (a) (natural sugars) disturbing proper melanosome maturation by inducing osmotic stress and inhibiting the PI3 kinase pathway and (b) (sugar derivatives) inhibiting tyrosinase maturation by blocking N-glycosylation. Finally, we propose an alternative strategy for developing anti-melanogenic sugars that theoretically reduce melanosomal pH by inhibiting a sucrose transporter and reduce tyrosinase activity by inhibiting copper incorporation into an active site. These studies provide evidence of the utility of sugar-based anti-melanogenic agents in managing skin darkness and curing pigmentary disorders and suggest a future direction for the development of physiologically favorable anti-melanogenic agents.

Stable synthetic bacteriochlorins overcome the resistance of melanoma to photodynamic therapy

Cutaneous malignant melanoma remains a therapeutic challenge, and patients with advanced disease have limited survival. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been successfully used to treat many malignancies, and it may show promise as an antimelanoma modality. However, high melanin levels in melanomas can adversely affect PDT effectiveness. Herein the extent of melanin contribution to melanoma resistance to PDT was investigated in a set of melanoma cell lines that markedly differ in the levels of pigmentation; 3 new bacteriochlorins successfully overcame the resistance. Cell killing studies determined that bacteriochlorins are superior at (LD(50) approximately 0.1 microM) when compared with controls such as the FDA-approved Photofrin (LD(50) approximately 10 microM) and clinically tested LuTex (LD(50) approximately 1 microM). The melanin content affects PDT effectiveness, but the degree of reduction is significantly lower for bacteriochlorins than for Photofrin. Microscopy reveals that the least effective bacteriochlorin localizes predominantly in lysosomes, while the most effective one preferentially accumulates in mitochondria. Interestingly all bacteriochlorins accumulate in melanosomes, and subsequent illumination leads to melanosomal damage shown by electron microscopy. Fluorescent probes show that the most effective bacteriochlorin produces significantly higher levels of hydroxyl radicals, and this is consistent with the redox properties suggested by molecular-orbital calculations. The best in vitro performing bacteriochlorin was tested in vivo in a mouse melanoma model using spectrally resolved fluorescence imaging and provided significant survival advantage with 20% of cures (P<0.01).

Mutations in the gene encoding B, a novel transporter protein, reduce melanin content in medaka

Pigmentation of the skin is of great social, clinical and cosmetic significance. Several genes that, when mutated, give rise to altered coat color in mice have been identified; their analysis has provided some insight into melanogenesis and human pigmentation diseases. Such analyses do not, however, fully inform on the pigmentation of lower vertebrates because mammals have only one kind of chromatophore, the melanocyte. In contrast, the medaka (a small, freshwater teleost) is a suitable model of the lower vertebrates because it has all kinds of chromatophores. The basic molecular genetics of fish are known and approximately 70 spontaneous pigmentation mutants have been isolated. One of these, an orange-red variant, is a homozygote of a well-known and common allele, b, and has been bred for hundreds of years by the Japanese. Here, we report the first successful positional cloning of a medaka gene (AIM1): one that encodes a transporter that mediates melanin synthesis. The protein is predicted to consist of 12 transmembrane domains and is 55% identical to a human EST of unknown function isolated from melanocytes and melanoma cells. We also isolated a highly homologous gene from the mouse, indicating a conserved function of vertebrate melanogenesis. Intriguingly, these proteins have sequence and structural similarities to plant sucrose transporters, suggesting a relevance of sucrose in melanin synthesis. Analysis of AIM1 orthologs should provide new insights into the regulation of melanogenesis in both teleosts and mammals.

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate concentrations increase after adherence in the macrophage-like cell line J774.1

Several properties of macrophages change when suspended cells become adherent. To determine the intracellular signals involved in these changes, concentrations of the second messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P3] were monitored during adherence of J774.1 cells, a macrophage-like cell line. When cells grown in suspension were allowed to adhere to a glass surface, there was a transient increase in InsP3 that reached a peak between 100 and 120 s after plating. Inositol mono- and bis-phosphate concentrations were also elevated 100 and 120 s after plating. Analysis of isomer distribution showed significant 3-fold increases in Ins(1,4,5)P3 and inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate [Ins(1,3,4,5)P4] at 100 s after plating. These values were maintained at 120 s, with the additional appearance of a 4-fold increase in inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate. The adherence-induced generation of Ins(1,4,5)P3 was decreased, and Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 formation was blocked, in Ca2+-free medium. However, doubling intracellular [Ca2+] by addition of the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin (1 microM) did not increase Ins(1,4,5)P3 in suspended cells. Adherence of J774.1 cells to fibronectin-coated glass also induced an increase in InsP3.

Stimulation of tyrosinase activity of cultured melanoma cells by lysosomotropic agents

The tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) activity of cell-free extracts (TyH) of B16 melanoma cells cultured in the presence of 5 to 10 mM ammonium chloride was considerably higher than that of cells from control cultures. This increase in TyH in the presence of ammonium chloride seemed to be due to de novo synthesis of the enzyme, because it was inhibited by 1 microgram/ml of cycloheximide. In the presence of the latter, however, ammonium chloride did increase the tyrosinase activity of living cells in culture (TyC) resulting in about threefold increase in the TyC/TyH ratio, a measure of the extent of tyrosinase reaction exerted by the enzyme present in living cells. This higher TyC/TyH ratio induced by ammonium chloride was also observed in the absence of cycloheximide. Similar increases in TyH, TyC, and TyC/TyH occurred in the presence of methylamine or ethylamine instead of ammonium chloride, but not in the presence of tetraethylammonium chloride, and also in culture medium of higher pH. The apparently similar effects of lysosomotropic bases and medium of higher pH on the TyC/TyH ratio suggest that there are some mechanisms that control the intramelanosomal pH lower than the cytoplasmic pH.

Induction of pigmentation by continuous X-irradiation of amelanotic tumors of B16-XI mouse melanoma and induced change in chromosomes of amelanotic cells

Non-pigmented tumor cells of B16-XI mouse melanoma were found to contain a diploid number of chromosomes similarly to those of melanotic tumors and the parental cells in tissue culture. A major difference between pigmented and non-pigmented cells was in the number of biarmed chromosomes per cell. There was no difference in growth rate between non-pigmented and pigmented tumors, but growth usually begins about 2 days earlier in the former. Pigmentation lost in the course of serial transplantation was restored by irradiating the non-pigmented tumor continuously with 2,500-3,000 rads/passage of X-rays during six transfer generations. In the course of repeated irradiations, the chromosomes changed structurally and numerically as the pigmentation of the tumor was gradually restored. The observations of tumor growth and chromosomal changes are discussed in relation to the pigmentation of B16-XI melanoma cells.

Synthesis and degradation of tyrosinase in cultured melanoma cells

The tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) activity of cultured B-16 mouse melanoma cells (C2M) in the stationary phase depends greatly on whether the culture medium contains glucose or galactose. The activity in medium containing galactose was about ten times that in medium containing glucose at pH 7.2. This difference in tyrosinase activity was concluded to be due to a shift of balance between synthesis and degradation of the enzyme. Experiments were conducted with stationary phase cultures in the presence of cycloheximide. The melanoma cells did not synthesize tyrosinase in medium containing glucose in the stationary phase. But when they were cultured under identical conditions, except that glucose was replaced by galactose, they continued to synthesize tyrosinase. The rate of synthesis in medium containing galactose at pH 6.3 was one third of that in the same medium at about pH 7, in which the increase in specific activity of tyrosinase per day was about 30 nmoles/mg cell protein per hr. The rate of degradation of the enzyme was practically the same in medium containing glucose as in medium containing galactose, and largely depended on the pH of the culture medium. At pH 6.3, the half-life was about one third of that at pH 7.2, where it was about 1.8 days. The degradation at acidic pH values was much reduced by ammonium salt and was strongly inhibited by the protease inhibitor, leupeptin.

Effects of pH and type of sugar in the medium on tyrosinase activity in cultured melanoma cells

The tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) activity of cultured mouse melanoma cells B16 in the stationary phase of growth, depends greatly on the pH of the medium and the kind of sugar present. The enzyme activity of a homogenate of cells grown at pH 7.2 in Eagles's MEM supplemented with 10% new born calf serum and con taining galactose in place of glucose, was about ten times that of a homogenate of cells cultured at pH 6.3 in the same medium. The tyrosinase activity changed reversibly on changing the pH of the culture medium. When cultured at a constant pH of 7.2, cells grown with 1 mM galactose had about five times higher tyrosinase activity than cells grown with 1 mM glucose. Only a small amount of lactate accumulated in cultures with glucose and it had little effect on the enzyme activity. These two findings explain the very low tyrosinase activity of cells cultured in medium with 5 mM glucose: the low activity is due to the presence of glucose and to the low pH resulting from conversion of glucose to lactic acid.