Abstract: Objective To study the effects of several Chinese traditional medicines (CTM) on cell proliferation, cell toxicity, gene expression of Tyr and c-kit in normal melanocytes cultured from Caucasians. Methods The TRP and KIT protein expression was detected by Western blotting. The total soluble protein of melanocytes was measured by spectrophotometer by its absorption at 595nm against the standard concertration curre. Results Angelica dahurica, Fructus psoraleae, Spica Prunellae, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, and Eclipta Prostrasta stimulated the expression of KIT and the synthesis of total protein. The stimulating effect of Angelica dahurica and and Fructus psoraleae on the KIT expression was 69.44% and 58.43% respectively. However, these medicines only had a limited effect on the expression of Tyr in melanocytes. Conclusions The therapeutic effect of CTM on vitiligo may be related with the SCF/KIT pathway. This study might provide an useful way to screen more Chinese medicine for the treatment of vitiligo.

Key words: Melanocytes, Drugs,Chinese herbal, Vitiligo, Monophenol monooxygenase, Receptor protein-tyrosine kinases