Effect of triamcinolone acetonide on tyrosinase activity in a human melanoma cell line

The synthetic glucocorticoid, triamcinolone acetonide, was found to increase melanogenesis in the human melanoma cell line NEL. Treatment of NEL cells for 24 hr with triamcinolone acetonide (1 X 10(-7) M) increased the activity of the enzyme tyrosinase by 43% and the incorporation of the melanin precursor, L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, by 23%. Additional studies revealed no change in cyclic AMP levels over an 18-hr test period. A 2-hr preincubation of NEL cells with actinomycin D (10 micrograms/ml) prevented the increase in tyrosinase activity by triamcinolone acetonide. When triamcinolone acetonide was added to a synchronized population of NEL cells, an increase in tyrosinase activity was observed at 16 hr, coinciding with the late S phase of the cell cycle. These results suggest that glucocorticoids are involved in the regulation of melanogenesis in NEL cells by increasing the activity of the rate-controlling enzyme tyrosinase.