title: Kojic Acid Peptide: A New Compound with Anti-Tyrosinase Potential.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Kojic acid was used for decades in the cosmetic industry as an antimelanogenic agent. However, there are two major drawbacks of Kojic acid, one is cytotoxicity and second are instability on storage. These limitations led the scientist to synthesize the active Kojic acid peptides.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In the present study, we synthesize and investigate the effect of five Kojic acid peptides to overcome the limitation of Kojic acid.
  
  
  METHODS
  The peptide was analyzed and purified by high-performance liquid chromatography and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectroscopy. Further, the tyrosinase activities of the Kojic acid and Kojic acid peptides were compared. The toxicity was measured and the melanin content is recorded in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Maximum tyrosinase activity was measured by Kojic acid peptides. Therefore, Kojic acid peptides were subjected to melanin assay and cytotoxicity assay and finally the stability of the Kojic acid peptide was measured.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was observed that this newly synthesized Kojic acid peptide is stable and potent to inhibit the tyrosinase activity and melanin content of B16F10 mouse melanoma cells without exhibiting cell toxicity. Together, these preliminary results suggest that a further exploration is being needed to establish Kojic acid peptide as antimelanogenic agent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Birendra Kumar
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Anyang University, Anyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyang-Bok
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Aae
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Goo
authors.affiliation: Anti-Ageing Research Institute of BIO-FD&C Co., Ltd., Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyoung Shik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Anti-Ageing Research Institute of BIO-FD&C Co., Ltd., Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Anti-Ageing Research Institute of BIO-FD&C Co., Ltd., Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Natuzen Co., Ltd., Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Ghe Whan
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Natuzen Co., Ltd., Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Pyo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Natuzen Co., Ltd., Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Su Myoung
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Ki
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Hypopgmentation; Kojic acid; Melanin; Peptides; Tyrosinase