Hypopigmentary Effects of Dipeptides in B16 Melanoma Cells

In the present study, we investigated the effects of dipeptides on melanogenesis in B16 melanoma cells. It was found that WV (Trp+Val), WM (Trp+Met), and CQ (Cys+Gln) decreased melanin production dosedependently. However, dipeptides did not directly inhibit tyrosinase activity, the rate-limiting melanogenic enzyme. Therefore, we further investigated the expression of tyrosinase. Our results showed that -MSH-induced tyrosinase expression was down-regulated by WV, WM, and CQ. Thus, we propose that WV, WM, and CQ show hypopigmentary activity through tyrosinase down-regulation.