Ceramium boydenii, a red alga, inhibits MDC/CCL22 production via suppression of STAT1 activation in HaCaT keratinocyte

Ceramium boydenii belongs to euphorbia humitusa of red algae, and is distributed along the coast of Jeju island. This study was conducted to examine the anti-inflammatory effect and action mechanism of C. boydenii in the human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT. The 80% EtOH extract of C. boydenii inhibits the production of MDC (macrophage derived chemokine), an inflammatory chemokine, induced by IFN-γ and TNF-α in a concentration dependent manner. It also suppressed the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of STAT1, a key transcription factor in IFN-γ and TNF-α signaling pathway, at the effective concentrations. These results suggest that C. boydenii demonstrates the anti-inflammatory activity via the suppression of STAT1 activation and has the significant value as an anti-inflammatory source.