Inhibitory effects of Asterina pectinifera extracts on melanin biosynthesis             through tyrosinase activity.  The control of melanogenesis is an important strategy in the treatment of             abnormal skin pigmentation for cosmetic purposes. The aim of the present study             was to investigate the anti-melanogenic effect of Asterina pectinifera (A. pectinifera)             extracts by cell-free mushroom tyrosinase assay, cellular tyrosinase assay, melanin             content assay and the analysis of related protein expression in melan-a cells.             A. pectinifera was extracted with 80% methanol (80-MAP) and further fractionated             with hexane (He-AP) and ethyl acetate (EA-AP). In addition, the enzyme extract             (En-AP) of A. pectinifera, to which protease was added, was processed. EA-AP and             En-AP among A. pectinifera extracts showed strong inhibitory activity against             the cell-free mushroom tyrosinase activity. EA-AP and En-AP induced significant             inhibition of melanin production and cellular tyrosinase activity. In the action             of EA-AP and En-AP on melanogenesis, they reduced the expression of melanogenic             genes and proteins including tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1)             and dopachrome tautomerase (Dct). These results showed that EA-AP and En-AP inhibited             melanogenesis by reducing tyrosinase activity and melanin production via subsequent             downregulation of tyrosinase-related proteins. The overall results suggest that             EA-AP and En-AP among A. pectinifera extracts may be promising candidates for             the treatment of hyperpigmentation disorder and useful for self-tanning cosmetic             products.