New candidate for skin depigmentation: The inhibitory effect and cytotoxicity of small molecule compounds at in vitro cell culture

To obtain effective and safe topical depigmenting agents, we synthesized hydroxybenzoates, alkoxybenzoates, and 3,4,5-trimethoxycinnamate containing a thymol moiety and screened then for high-level inhibitory activity against melanin synthesis. Among them, 5-methyl-2-(methylethyl)phenyl (2Ε)-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)prop-2-enoate (Melasolv)$^{TM}$ 4h, showed the most potent depigmenting effect ($IC_{50}$/ = 10$\mu$M) with low cytotoxicity ($IC_{50}$/ = 200$\mu$M). To find the inhibition mechanism of our candidate, various in vitro tests were performed such as DPPH assay, tyrosinase activity in mushroom or in culture cell and expression of tyrosinase, TRP-l and TRP-2. The result of this study suggested that 4h inhibited melanin synthesis by reducing the expression of tyrosinase and TRP-l at the transcriptional level in melan-a melanocytes.s.