Inhibition of ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced c-fos and c-jun expression in vivo by a tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein.

We reported the inhibitory effects of genistein, an inhibitor of tyrosine protein kinase (TPK), on ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced expression of c-fos and c-jun in SENCAR mouse skin. UVB irradiation substantially increased transcript levels of c-fos and c-jun mRNA in mouse skin. Topical application of genistein 60 min before UVB radiation reduced c-fos and c-jun expression in the mouse skin in dose-dependent manner. Inhibition was more pronounced in skin exposed to the low dose (5 kJ/m2) than to the high dose (15 kJ/m2) of UVB radiation. In addition, genistein exhibited more inhibition of c-fos than that of c-jun. Post-application of genistein after UVB exposure down-regulated the expressions of c-fos and c-jun, but to a lesser extent compared with pre-application. A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cells, which excessively express epidermal growth factor receptors (EGF-R), were used to investigate the possible mechanism of genistein's action. The results showed that genistein down-regulated the UVB-mediated phosphorylation of TPK-dependent EGF-R in a dose-dependent manner. We concluded that inhibition of UVB-induced c-fos and c-jun expression in mouse skin by genistein may, at least in part, result from the inhibition of TPK activities and down-regulation of EGF-R phosphorylation. Suppression of UVB-induced proto-oncogene expression in mouse skin suggests that genistein may serve as a potential preventative agent against photodamage and photocarcinogenesis.