The seeds of 322 Korean soybean varieties were collected from six different cultivated sites in Korea and classified into three groups based on the 100-seed weight as small, medium, and large. Seeds were analyzed for their concentrations of isoflavones and phenolic compounds. The total average isoflavones in soybean cultivated at Iksan (2.840 micromol g(-1)) and phenolic compounds in soybean grown at Yeoncheon (9.216 micromol g(-1)) and Iksan (9.154 micromol g(-1)) were significantly different (p<0.05). In small and medium seeds of soybeans cultivated at Yeoncheon, Yesan, and Milyang high levels of isoflavones were obtained, whereas soybeans grown in Chuncheon showed the lowest isoflavone concentrations. However, isoflavone concentrations in the large seeds of soybean cultivated at Chuncheon showed the highest level. The soybean cultivated at Yeoncheon had high levels of phenolic compounds in small, medium, and large seeds, whereas the soybean grown at Chuncheon had the lowest. On the other hand, the phenolic concentrations of large soybean cultivated at Milyang were the least. At Yeoncheon, Yesan, and Milyang, the total isoflavone and phenolic compounds levels related to their seed size was significantly different (p<0.05), whereas in the soybean of different sizes cultivated at Chuncheon, the relationship to their seed size was not significantly different. The relationships of total isoflavones and phenolic compounds of small and medium soybean seeds were significantly higher than that of large soybean seeds. The hydroxybenzoic acid group in all sizes of seeds cultivated at six sites in Korea was the major phenolic compound, followed by flavonoid and hydroxycinnamic acid. The total isoflavone concentration was positively correlated with acetylglycoside and negatively correlated with malonylglycoside in the small soybean seeds cultivated at Yeoncheon. In medium soybean seeds cultivated at Yeoncheon, a significantly positive correlation was found between acetylglycoside and glycoside, between aglycone and glycoside, and between aglycone and acetylglycoside, whereas a significantly negative correlation was shown between malonylglycoside and glycoside, between acetylglycoside and malonylglycoside, and between aglycone and malonylglycoside. In large soybean seeds cultivated at Chuncheon, significantly positive and negative correlations were similar to those of medium seeds. The results presented here can improve the understanding of the relationships among the concentrations of individual chemical compounds and each chemical compound group and total chemical compounds in soybeans of different seed sizes from different cultivated sites.

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UV-induced matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) cause connective tissue damage and the skin to become wrinkled and aged. Here, we investigated the effect of 2 0 ,4 0 ,7-trihydroxyisoflavone (THF) on UV-induced MMP-1 expression in human skin fibroblasts (HSFs). We found that UV irradiation increases MMP-1 expression and that this is mediated by ERK and JNK activation, but not by p38 activation. Pretreatment of HSFs with 2 0 ,4 0 ,7-THF inhibited UV-induced MMP-1 expression in a dosedependent manner, and also inhibited the UV-induced activations of ERK and JNK by inhibiting MEK1 and SEK1 activation, respectively. Moreover, inhibitions of ERK and JNK by 2 0 ,4 0 ,7-THF resulted in the decrease of c-Fos expression and cJun phosphorylation/expression induced by UV, respectively, which led to the inhibition of UV-induced AP-1 DNA binding activity. This inhibitory effect of 2 0 ,4 0 ,7-THF on MMP-1 was not mediated by an antioxidant effect. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that 2 0 ,4 0 ,7-THF can inhibit UV-induced MMP-1 expression by inhibiting the MEK1/ERK/c-Fos and SEK1/ JNK/c-Jun pathways. Therefore, 2 0 ,4 0 ,7-THF is a potential agent for the prevention and treatment of skin aging.