Melagenine modulates proliferation and differentiation of melanoblasts

Melagenine, extracted from human placenta, has been shown to be effective in treating patients with vitiligo, yet the mechanisms of melagenine in inducing the repigmentation of vitiligo patients have not been fully investigated. Recent studies have suggested that melagenine stimulates melanocyte proliferation and melanogenesis. In this study, we utilized the NCCmelb4M5 melanoblast cell line to investigate the effects of melagenine on proliferation and differentiation of immature melanocytes or melanoblasts. NCCmelb4M5 cells were treated with different concentrations of melagenine (50-400 microg/ml), and MTT assay was performed to evaluate the effects of melagenine on proliferation of melanoblasts. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to determine the expression of c-KIT and tyrosinase (TYR). Our results show that melagenine stimulates proliferation of NCCmelb4M5 cells in a dose-dependent manner with an optimal concentration of 100 microg/ml. Multipolar and highly branched dendritic network, as well as cluster-like growing cell assembly were visible in melagenine-treated NCCmelb4M5 cells. Melagenine induced expression of c-KIT, TYR and MITF. Our results provide insights into the molecular mechanism of the beneficial effect of melagenine in the treatment of vitiligo.