TY - JOUR T1 - FGF21 regulates melanogenesis in alpaca melanocytes <em>via</em> ERK1/2-Mediated MITF downregulation JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/147082 SP - 147082 AU - Ruiwei Wang AU - Tianzhi Chen AU - Bingling Zhao AU - Ruiwen Fan AU - Kaiyuan Ji AU - Xiuju Yu AU - Xianjun Wang AU - Changsheng Dong Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/07/147082.abstract N2 - Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is known as a metabolic regulator to regulate the metabolism of glucose and lipids. However, the underlying mechanism of FGF21 on melanin synthesis remains unknown. Therefore, the current study investigates the effect of FGF21 on melanogenesis in alpaca melanocytes. We transfected the FGF21 into alpaca melanocytes, then detected the melanin contents, protein and mRNA levels of pigmentation-related genes in order to determine the melanogenesis-regulating pathway of FGF21. The results showed that FGF21 overexpression suppressed melanogenesis and decreased the expression of the major target genes termed microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) and its downstream genes, including tyrosinase (TYR) and tyrosinase-related protein 2 (TRP2). However FGF21 increased the expression of phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-Erk1/2). In contrast, FGF21-siRNA, a small interference RNA mediating FGF21 silencing, abolished the inhibition of melanogenesis. Altogether, FGF21 may decrease melanogenesis in alpaca melanocytes via ERK activation and subsequent MITF downregulation, which is then followed by the suppression of melanogenic enzymes and melanin production. ER -