KUDZU EXTRACT AND PROCOLLAGEN PRODUCTION 483 procollagen synthesis. Both the DNA microarray data and the in vitro procollagen data suggest that normal human dermal fi broblasts cannot distinguish between topically ap- plied cytoglobin and topically applied plant-derived leghemoglobin in terms of the abil- ity of these molecules to infl uence procollagen synthesis. CONCLUSIONS It is tempting from the results of these experiments to conclude that globin proteins can infl uence procollagen production via control of oxygen transportation at the cellular level. However, such conclusions cannot be made directly from the data provided in these stud- ies. Because topical application of both cytoglobin and leghemoglobin appears to up- regulate the genes responsible for Type 1A1 procollagen synthesis, the effects seen here may be related to direct transcription infl uences, not to fundamental oxygen transport effects. Distinguishing whether cytoglobin (and indeed leghemoglobin) affect procollagen synthesis through oxygen control will be tricky, given that these proteins can infl uence Scheme 1. Chemical structure of puerarin. Figure 3. Type 1A1 procollagen results from kudzu symbiosome extract, ascorbic acid, and purifi ed leg- hemoglobin and purifi ed puerarin.

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