Objective To evaluate the effect of this neuroendocrine hormone on protein expression by treating the human dermal fibroblasts with a-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH ).Methods Thehuman dermal fibroblasts was cultured, and the total protein of the fibroblasts were separated with immobilized pH gradient-based two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). After Coomassie bright blue staining, gel images were acquired by Image-scanner and then analyzed with the PDQuest software. 2-DE maps of fibroblasts were established. Partial differently expressed protein spots were incised from gels and digested by trypsin in-gel. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and MSDB database searching by Mascot? software were used for protein identification. Results Well-resolved, reproducible 2-DE patterns of dermal fibroblasts treated with and without crMSH were obtained. 8 differently expressed protein spots were detected, among which 8 obtained peptide mass fingerprints (PMF) by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. Among these proteins, of particular interest were five proteins annexin I, HSP27 and lamin A, etc. Conclusions Proteins expressed by human dermal fibroblasts treated with or without crMSH are different, and some of the differently expressed proteins involve apoptosis, intracellular signal transduction and framework construction and so on, which may be associated with anti-fibrosis effects of (a)-MSH on human dermal fibroblasts.