Cefotaxime sodium (CTX) was found to inhibit the activity of mushroom tyrosinase. The present study was conducted to investigate its inhibition of melanogenesis in B16F10 cells. CTX was found to inhibit melanin synthesis in B16F10 cells at a concentrations less than 200 μmol/L with no cytotoxicity. CTX reduced tyrosinase activity in a dose-dependent manner. CTX inhibited melanin formation from the results of the Masson-Fontana melanin staining and transmission electron microscope CTX influenced melanin production by influencing the expression of the proteins MITF, TRP-1, TRP-2 and TYR. Furthermore, CTX could down-regulate the intracellular cAMP/PKA/CREB contents, affecting the expression of MITF, and further down-regulate the expression of TRP-1, TRP-2 and TYR to inhibit melanin. Furthermore, CTX has been shown to inhibit body pigmentation in zebrafish. These results may provide a theoretical foundation for the new application of CTX in the field of medicine.

头孢噻肟钠 (CTX) 被发现抑制蘑菇酪氨酸酶的活性。本研究旨在研究其对 B16F10 细胞黑色素生成的抑制作用。发现 CTX 在低于 200 μmol/L 的浓度下可抑制 B16F10 细胞中黑色素的合成，且无细胞毒性。CTX 以剂量依赖性方式降低酪氨酸酶活性。根据 Masson-Fontana 黑色素染色和透射电子显微镜的结果，CTX 抑制黑色素形成 CTX 通过影响蛋白质 MITF、TRP-1、TRP-2 和 TYR 的表达来影响黑色素的生成。此外，CTX可下调细胞内cAMP/PKA/CREB含量，影响MITF的表达，进一步下调TRP-1、TRP-2和TYR的表达，抑制黑色素。此外，CTX 已被证明可以抑制斑马鱼的身体色素沉着。这些结果可能为CTX在医学领域的新应用提供理论基础。