Current Issues in Molecular Biology (Jun 2022)

Amorphigenin from <i>Amorpha fruticosa</i> L. Root Extract Induces Autophagy-Mediated Melanosome Degradation in mTOR-Independent- and AMPK-Dependent Manner

  • Ki Won Lee,
  • Dang Thi Nguyen,
  • Minju Kim,
  • Si Hyeon Lee,
  • Seyeon Lim,
  • Jisu Kim,
  • Ki Hun Park,
  • Jeong Yoon Kim,
  • Jiyun Yoo,
  • Cheol Hwangbo,
  • Kwang Dong Kim

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb44070196
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 44, no. 7
pp. 2856 – 2867

Abstract

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In this study, we investigated the depigmentation effect of Amorpha fruticosa L. root extract (RE), an herbal medicine. A. fruticosa RE significantly induced depigmentation in α-MSH-treated B16F10 cells at noncytotoxic concentrations. Further, the RE decreased the protein levels of the melanosomal proteins Tyr and Pmel without decreasing their transcript levels. We found that MG132, a proteasome complex inhibitor, was unable to rescue the protein levels, but PepA/E-64D (a lysosomal enzyme inhibitor), 3-MA (a representative autophagy inhibitor), and ATG5 knockdown effectively rescued the protein levels and inhibited the depigmentation effect following RE treatment. Among rotenoids, amorphigenin composed in the RE was identified as a functional chemical that could induce depigmentation; whereas rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor and a nonselective autophagy inducer, could not induce depigmentation, and amorphigenin effectively induced depigmentation through the degradation of melanosomal proteins. Amorphigenin activated AMPK without affecting mTOR, and knockdown of AMPK offset the whitening effect through degradation of melanosome proteins by amorphigenin. Results from this study suggested that amorphigenin can induce degradation of the melanosome through an AMPK-dependent autophagy process, and has the potential to be used as a depigmentation agent for the treatment of hyperpigmentation.

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