Hypopigmentation is a skin disease, mainly manifested by the reduction of melanin, common symptoms include vitiligo, albinism and hypopigmentation after skin inflammation. Currently, the main treatment for hypopigmentation is oral medication, but oral medication can cause skin atrophy, gastrointestinal discomfort and other adverse side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a natural substance to treat hypopigmentation without side effects.
Recently the journal Scientific Reports published an article entitled "A systematic exploration reveals the potential of spermidine for hypopigmentation treatment |through the stabilisation of melanogenesis-associated proteins", the results of which suggest that spermidine can treat hypopigmentation by stabilising melanogenesis-associated proteins.
I. Spermidine Treatment Increases Melanogenesis
In order to study the effect of spermidine on melanogenesis, the research team treated MNT-1 cells with different concentrations of spermidine, and quantitative analysis revealed that spermidine treatment increased melanogenesis.
Spermidine regulates melanin-related protein degradation systems
To demonstrate that spermine regulates genes involved in protein degradation, the research team systematically examined spermine-treated cells and found that 181 genes were down-regulated and 82 genes were up-regulated, excluding genes related to melanin production. For further evidence, the team analysed the effect of spermidine on the expression levels of the tyrosinase gene family TYR, TRP-1 and TRP-2, which are genes that tightly regulate melanogenesis. mRNA expression levels confirmed that spermidine did not alter the expression of genes involved in melanogenesis. However, the activity of several genes was altered by spermine and related to protein degradation. Several of the altered genes were related to ubiquition, a protein degradation system associated with melanogenesis.
Spermidine regulates protein stability to promote melanogenesis
Melanin production is regulated by the balance of synthesis and degradation of melanogenesis-related proteins. Spermidine treatment of TYR, TRP-1 and TRP-2 genes, through the action of the transporter genes SLC3A2, SLC7A1, SLC18B1 and SLC22A18, elevated intracellular polyamine levels, thereby increasing the stability of melanogenesis-related proteins to promote melanogenesis.
In conclusion, this study suggests that the natural compound spermidine has potential role in the treatment of hypopigmentation and has future applications in cosmetics and nutraceuticals.
