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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Pharmacologic Induction of Epidermal Melanin and Protection Against Sunburn in a Humanized Mouse Model
Published on: September 7, 2013
Netilmicin-induced modulation of melanogenesis in HEMa-LP melanocytes
Dorota Wrześniok1, Artur Beberok, Michał Otreba
1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Silesia, Jagiellońska 4, PL-41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland. dwrzesniok@sum.edu.pl
Abstract:
It is known that aminoglycoside antibiotics bind well to melanin biopolymer, but the relation between their affinity to melanin and ototoxicity is not well established. The aim of this work was to examine the impact of netilmicin on melanogenesis in cultured normal human melanocytes (HEMa-LP). The WST-1 assay was used to detect netilmicin cytotoxic effect. Netilmicin induced concentration-dependent loss in melanocytes viability. The value of EC50 was found to be - 75.0 mM. The analyzed antibiotic inhibited melanin biosynthesis in a concentration-dependent manner. Increasing the drug concentration resulted also in a decrease of cellular tyrosinase activity. Netilmicin-induced modulation of melanogenesis in melanocytes in vitro may explain a potential role of melanin and melanocytes in the mechanisms of aminoglycosides ototoxic effects in vivo.

