{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T16:16:42Z","timestamp":1787588202419,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,15]],"date-time":"2023-08-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692057600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Melanin produced by melanocytes protects our skin against ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced cell damage and oxidative stress. Melanin overproduction by hyperactivated melanocytes is the direct cause of skin hyperpigmentary disorders, such as freckles and melasma. Exploring natural whitening agents without the concern of toxicity has been highly desired. In this study, we focused on a Bifidobacterium longum strain, ZJ1, isolated from a Chinese centenarian, and we evaluated the anti-melanogenic activity of the distinctive extracts of ZJ1. Our results demonstrated that whole lysate (WL) and bacterial lysate (BL) of ZJ1 ferments efficiently reduce \u03b1-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (\u03b1-MSH)-induced melanin production in B16-F10 cells as well as the melanin content in zebrafish embryos. BL and WL downregulate melanogenesis-related gene expression and indirectly inhibit intracellular tyrosinase activity. Furthermore, they both showed antioxidant activity in a menadione-induced zebrafish embryo model. Our results suggest that ZJ1 fermentation lysates have application potential as therapeutic reagents for hyperpigmentary disorders and whitening agents for cosmetics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms241612810","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,15]],"date-time":"2023-08-15T11:06:16Z","timestamp":1692097576000},"page":"12810","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Anti-Melanogenic and Antioxidant Activity of Bifidobacterium longum Strain ZJ1 Extracts, Isolated from a Chinese Centenarian"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Jing","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, Institute of Immunology, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Engineering Technology Research Center of Biotechnology Drugs Anhui, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230094, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Funa","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, Institute of Immunology, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Engineering Technology Research Center of Biotechnology Drugs Anhui, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230094, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haixia","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230094, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6871-9085","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shimei","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230094, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, Institute of Immunology, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Engineering Technology Research Center of Biotechnology Drugs Anhui, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230094, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9102-6326","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Weihua","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease, Institute of Immunology, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Engineering Technology Research Center of Biotechnology Drugs Anhui, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China"},{"name":"Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230094, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"608","DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.24625.1","article-title":"Recent advances in understanding the molecular basis of melanogenesis in melanocytes","volume":"9","author":"Ohbayashi","year":"2020","journal-title":"F1000Research"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1155","DOI":"10.1152\/physrev.00044.2003","article-title":"Melanin pigmentation in mammalian skin and its hormonal regulation","volume":"84","author":"Slominski","year":"2004","journal-title":"Physiol. 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