Additive effects of heat and p38 MAPK inhibitor treatment on melanin synthesis

It has been reported that the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) reduces melanin synthesis. Recently, we also found that heat treatment induces ERK activation and inhibits melanogenesis in Mel-Ab cells (a mouse melanocyte cell line). In addition, it was reported that p38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) inhibition blocks melanogenesis. Thus, we investigated the effects of heat and of the p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, on melanogenesis. In this study, we found that heat treatment activates ERK and reduces melanin production in human melanocytes, and that this is accompanied by a reduction in tyrosinase activity. To regulate the ERK and p38 MAPK pathways simultaneously, we combined heat treatment and SB203580 and measured melanin synthesis. The results obtained showed that heat treatment and SB203580 reduced melanin synthesis more effectively than heat or SB203580 alone. We conclude that ERK activation and p38 MAPK inhibition can work in an additive manner to decrease melanogenesis.