Ginsenoside F1 Modulates Cellular Responses of Skin Melanoma Cells

Ginsenoside (G)-F1 is an enzymatic metabolite generated from G-Rg1. Although this metabolite has been reported to suppress platelet aggregation and to reduce gap junction-mediated intercellular communication, the modulatory activity of G-F I on the functional role of skin-derived cells has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we evaluated the regulatory role of G-F1 on the cellular responses of BI6 melanoma cells. G-F1 strongly suppressed the proliferation of B16 cells up to 60% at 200 mu g/mL, while only diminishing the viability of HEK293 cells up to 30%. Furthermore, G-F1 remarkably induced morphological change and clustering of B16 melanoma cells. The melanin production of B16 cells was also significantly blocked by G-F I up to 70%. Interestingly, intracellular signaling events involved in cell proliferation, migration, and morphological change were up-regulated at 1 h incubation but down-regulated at 12 h. Therefore, our results suggest that G-F1 can be applied as a novel anti skin cancer drug with anti-proliferative and anti-migration features.