N-trans-feruloyltyramine as a melanin biosynthesis inhibitor.

In this study, we examined the effect of N-trans-feruloyltyramine (FA) on melanogenesis in mouse B16 melanoma cells. Melanogenesis was inhibited by FA in a dose-dependent manner. FA exhibited a greater potency than kojic acid as a standard inhibitor of melanogenesis. Moreover, treatment of B16 melanoma cells with FA was found to cause marked decreases in the expression levels of tyrosinase. FA-induced downregulation of tyrosinase resulted in suppression of melanin biosynthesis in murine B16 melanoma cells.

Regulation of melanin synthesis by selenium-containing carbohydrates.

This study reports depigmenting potency of selenium-containing carbohydrates, which would be based upon the finding of direct inhibition to mushroom tyrosinase. Two selenoglycosiede, SG-3 (bis(2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-beta-D-arabinopyranosyl) selenide) and SG-8 (4'-methylbenzoyl 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-D-selenomanopyranoside) among eleven selenium-containing compounds examined, were discovered to be effective depigmenting compounds on a mushroom tyrosinase inhibitory assay. SG-3 exhibited a competitive inhibition effect that was similar to kojic acid, well-known tyrosinase inhibitor. At 100 microM and 150 microM, SG-8 had an uncompetitive inhibitory effect that was higher than kojic acid. A study of a melan-a cell originated-tyrosinase inhibition assay showed that SG-8 had a lower inhibitory effect than kojic acid. SG-3 showed a similar inhibition effect to kojic acid on the melan-a cell-originated tyrosinase inhibitory assay. SG-8 showed dose-dependently cytotoxicity in a study of inhibition melanin synthesis by melan-a cells. Most melan-a cells did not survive after being treated with 20 microM of SG-8. At 10 microM, SG-3 inhibited melanin synthesis in the melan-a cells, and the effect was similar to phenylthiourea, which is a well-known inhibitor of melanin synthesis. Therefore, SG-3 is a new candidate for depigmenting reagents.

Synthesis of 1,3-thiazine derivatives and their evaluation as potential antimycobacterial agents.

A series of eight 5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine derivatives was synthesized by the BF3 x Et2O-catalyzed reaction of selected alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones with thiobenzamide at room temperature. The antimycobacterial activities of these compounds were determined against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (ATCC 27294) using the Alamar blue susceptibility assay. Three compounds, 5-hydroxy-3-phenyl-4-aza-2-thiabicyclo[3.3.1]none-3-ene 3a, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-6-pentyl-2-phenyl-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine 3b, and 4-ethyl-4-hydroxy-2-phenyl-5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-thiazine 3c exhibited inhibitory activities of 97, 77 and 76%, respectively, at a concentration of 6.25 microg/ml. The actual MIC99 for the most active of these compounds, 3a, was also determined to be >6.25 microg/ml. These results, and especially those for 3a, suggest that 1,3-thiazines are potential lead compounds in the search for new antitubercular agents.