Oplopanax elatus Nakai is an endangered perennial shrub of the Araliaceae family with various bioactive compounds, but its practical application is limited by the shortage of plant resource. Adventitious root (AR) culture is a novel approach for obtaining plant materials; thus, this study used the extract from bioreactor cultured O. elatus ARs (OAE) as experimental material and investigated the effect of OAE on inhibiting melanin synthesis of mouse melanoma cells (B16-F10) to utilize the ARs in production of related products in the future. The results showed that tyrosinase activity and melanin content of B16-F10 cells were inhibited by the treatments of 12.5, 25, and 50 μg/mL OAE, but those did not significantly decrease at 6.25 μg/mL OAE, indicating the anti-melanin effect of OAE (≥12.5 μg/mL). OAE down-regulated the expressions of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor, tyrosinase, and tyrosinase-related proteins-I or -II. Furthermore, phosphorylation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response element-binding protein was inhibited by OAE. Meanwhile, phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) of p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase was also inhibited by OAE, whereas that of extracellular regulated protein kinases was promoted. These findings demonstrated that the anti-melanin effect of OAE is probably caused by the regulation of the cAMP and MAPK signaling pathways. In conclusion, O. elatus ARs possess good anti-melanin effect and could be used in production of whitening products.

Oplopanax elatus Nakai是五加科多年生濒危灌木，具有多种生物活性成分，但植物资源匮乏限制了其实际应用。不定根（AR）培养是一种获取植物材料的新方法；因此，本研究使用生物反应器培养的O. elatus的提取物ARs（OAE）作为实验材料，研究了OAE对抑制小鼠黑色素瘤细胞（B16-F10）黑色素合成的作用，以期在未来利用ARs生产相关产品。结果表明，12.5、25和50 μg/mL OAE处理抑制B16-F10细胞的酪氨酸酶活性和黑色素含量，但在6.25 μg/mL OAE处理时没有明显降低，说明有抗黑色素作用。 OAE (≥12.5 μg/mL)。OAE下调小眼相关转录因子、酪氨酸酶和酪氨酸酶相关蛋白-I或-II的表达。此外，环磷酸腺苷 (cAMP) 反应元件结合蛋白的磷酸化受到 OAE 的抑制。同时，OAE 也抑制了 p38 和 c-Jun N 末端激酶的丝裂原活化蛋白激酶 (MAPKs) 的磷酸化，而促进了细胞外调节蛋白激酶的磷酸化。这些发现表明，OAE 的抗黑色素作用可能是由 cAMP 和 MAPK 信号通路的调节引起的。综上所述，O. elatus ARs具有良好的抗黑色素作用，可用于生产美白产品。