Active compounds from Schisandra chinensis exhibiting tyrosinase activity and melanin content inhibition in B16 melanoma cells

Schisandra chinensis has been used as traditional medicine. The structures of isolate active compounds (schisandrin B, deoxyschisandrin, schisandrin C) from S. chinensis were characterized by physical and spectroscopic analyses. Active compounds were tested for their potential to act as anti-melanogenesis or skin-whitening agents by their abilities to inhibit tyrosinase activity in the cell-free mushroom tyrosinase assay and cellular tyrosinase derived from B16 melanoma cells. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity was correlated to the inhibition of melanin productions in a-MSH-stimulated and unstimulated B16 cells. Cellular tyrosinase kinetics were analyzed and showed by Lineweaver- Burk plot. Schisandrin B was minimally cytotoxic (cell viability: 88.99% at 0.75 µM) and the IC50 value for suppression of mushroom tyrosinase activity was estimated as 0.6 µM. Zymography analysis demonstrated schisandrin B’s concentration-dependent effects and the kinetic analysis indicated schisandrin B’s noncompetitive-inhibitory action.