Compound K Activates Hyaluronan Synthase 2 in transformed human Keratinocytes and Fibroblasts and Increases hyaluronan in hairless mouse skin

Ginsenosides, the major active ingredients of ginseng, show a variety of biomedical efficacies such as anti-aging, anti oxidation and anti-inflammatory activities. To understand the effects of compound K (20-O-D-glucopyranosyl-20 (S)-protopanaxadiol), one of the major metabolite of ginsenosides on the skin, we assessed the expression level of ∼ 100 transcripts in compound K-treated HaCaT cells using cDNA microarray analysis. Compound K treatment induced differential expression of 21 genes, which have been reported to be involved in the organization of ECM structure as well as defense responses in human skin cells. One of the most interesting findings is 2-fold increase in hyaluronan synthase2 (HAS2) gene expression by compound K. We found that change in expression of HAS2 gene represents a specific response of HaCaT cells to compound K because hyaluronan synthase 1, 3 was not changed by treatment with compound K. We also demonstrated that the compound K effectively induced hyaluronan synthesis in human skin cells and hairless mouse skin. The human clinical study indicates that topical application of compound K-containing oil-in-water emulsion showed improvement of xerosis, wrinkle and fine lines in the aged skin. We concluded that compound K has anti-aging effects by the induction of HAS2 gene expression and following hyaluronan synthase.