Effect and mechanistic study of medicinal fungus Ganoderma lucidum and Cordyceps militaris on skin anti-aging and anti-melanogenesis

• Main Authors: Yi-Ting Chen, 陳薏婷
• Other Authors: Tang-Long Shen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/976rtj

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 植物病理與微生物學研究所 === 107 === Nowadays, people pay considerable attention to cosmetic products of whitening and anti-aging agents for solving and preventing some skin damage or diseases, such as hyperpigmentation and wrinkle formation. Ganoderma lucidum and Cordyceps militaris are well known traditional Chinese medicine with immunomodulation, free radical scavenging and anti-cancer activities. However, their cosmetic efficacy has not been well investigated. In this study, we aim to figure out the anti-melanogenesis and anti-aging effects of G. lucidum and C. militaris extracts serving as substitutes for existing products in cosmetic industry. G. lucidum and C. militaris extracts were harvested by hot water extraction. In zebrafish phenotype-based model, G. lucidum extract significantly inhibited pigment formation and the efficacy was better than C. militaris extract. Moreover, via qRT-PCR, G. lucidum extract showed highly inhibitory effect on the mRNA expression of melanogenesis-related gene tyr, tyrp1, dct, and mitfa. As a result, G. lucidum extract exhibited highly potential as whitening agent. Damaged extracellular matrix (ECM), impaired TGF-β/Smad signaling, and increased level of ROS cause decreased dermal thickness in aged skin. According to this, we tested and found that G. lucidum extract stimulated type-I collagen and fibronectin synthesis in NIH 3T3 cells. Meanwhile, G. lucidum extracts induced ECM synthesis by activating TGF-β/Smad signaling. Additionally, G. lucidum displayed stronger ROS scavenging activity, and showed a protective property against oxidative stress-induced DNA damage in NIH 3T3 cells. Altogether, the results suggested that G. lucidum possessed a huge potential at cosmetic industry with skin whitening and anti-aging activity.