Background: The role of protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) in skin pigmentation is well-known for its involvement in melanosome transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes. Objectives: We aimed to further study the function of PAR-2 in skin pigmentation. Methods: We examined whether stem cell factor (SCF), which is a crucial paracrine factor from keratinocytes in melanogenesis, could be modulated via direct activation of PAR-2 expressed on keratinocytes. Results: The activation of PAR-2 with kallikrein 5 and PAR-2-activating peptide increased SCF expression at the protein and mRNA levels. Furthermore, increased expression of SCF was confirmed to be mediated by direct PAR-2 activation through experiments using a PAR-2 antagonist and PAR-2 siRNA. PAR-2 activation increased MITF expression in melanocyte-keratinocyte coculture experiments. Conclusion: Our data indicate that PAR-2 may be involved in melanogenesisor the growth of melanocytes through the induction of SCF expression in keratinocytes.