title: Regulatory effect of hydroquinone-tetraethylene glycol conjugates on zebrafish pigmentation.
abstract: We synthesized two hydroquinone-tetraethylene glycol conjugates (HQ-TGs) and investigated their logP, photophysical stability, and redox chemical stability. HQ-TGs are a little more hydrophilic than hydroquinone (HQ) and show an enhanced photophysical and redox chemical stability compared with HQ. In addition we studied the effect of HQ-TGs on cell viability and on zebrafish pigmentation. MTT assay in HF-16 cells showed HQ-TGs are less cytotoxic than HQ. The phenotype-based image analysis of zebrafish larvae suggests that HQ-TGs suppress the pigmentation of zebrafish in a dose-dependent manner. The comparative experiments on stability, cytotoxicity, and zebrafish pigmentation between HQ and HQ-TGs suggest that mono tetraethylene glycol-functionalization of HQ is an alternative solution to overcome the adverse effect of HQ.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hoa Thi
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: Department of Oriental Medicinal Materials & Processing, College of Life Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bin Na
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Oriental Medicinal Materials & Processing, College of Life Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea; Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yeong Ro
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.affiliation: Department of Oriental Medicinal Materials & Processing, College of Life Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea; Graduate School of Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: panjae@khu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Tong Ho
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do 449-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: tw1275@khu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Tae Woo
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D005026:Ethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006873:Hydroquinones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000187:drug effects*; D062327:Skin Lightening Preparations / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005026:Ethylene Glycols; D006873:Hydroquinones; D062327:Skin Lightening Preparations; C031927:hydroquinone
keywords: Hydroquinone; Hydroquinone–tetraethylene glycol conjugate; Pigmentation; Whitening effect; Zebrafish