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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Formation of melanin-tyrosinase complex and its possible significance as a model for control of melanin synthesis.

Previous reports have shown that the tyrosinase activities of melanosomes and soluble tyrosinase isolated from melanoma were diminished when these preparations were incubated with 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa). It was concluded from these results that the tyrosinase activities of these preparations decreased when melanin was synthesized in these systems. The present investigation has revealed that melanin synthesized in vitro from dopa formed a complex with purified mushroom tyrosinase. The addition of melanin diminished the tyrosinase activity of the sample. These results show that the formation of the melanin-tyrosinase complex results in a decrease in the activity of the tyrosinase solution. The tyrosinase activity of the melanin-tyrosinase complex could not be increased by certain procedures which were previously found to enhance the tyrosinase activity of isolated melanosomes.

Catechol Oxidase↗
PubMed1975

Electron spin resonance study of melanin treated with reducing agents.

The electron spin resonances (ESR) of several native and modified melanins have been determined. Melanins isolated from black wool and synthesized from 3,4-dihydroxyl-L-phenylalanine (L-DOPA) and tyrosine all show similar ESR signals. Modification of the isolated melanins by treatment with reducing agents causes some lightening in color and slight changes in the ESR spectra. Lithium and liquid ammonia (Birch) reduction applied to melanins from wool and L-DOPA gave very different results, as reflected by ESR spectra, but in both cases the changes were much greater than those produced by other treatments. In general, reductive treatments in nonaqueous media in the presence of metals increase the free radical content and line width, whereas treatment in aqueous media resulted in decreased free radical content. These observations are consistent with a melanin pigment which is an irregular polymer and has unpaired electrons localized on different but similar monomer units.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1977

Electron microscopic studies of various cells in the alveolar wall of mice with special reference to spheroid alveolar epithelial cells after intravenous injection of squid-ink (sepia-melanin) solution.

The effect of an intravenous injection of squid-ink (sepia-melanin) solution on adult mouse spheroid alveolar epithelial cells was observed by the electron microscope. Sepia-melanin particles were seen in all alveolar wall cells examined that seems to suggest the entrance of sepia-melanin particles into the spheroid alveolar epithlial cells from the alveolar blood capillary. In cases of large penetrations of sepia-melanin particles into spheroid alveolar epithelial cells, a greater increase was found in the intramitochondrial granules. In addition, the so-called inclusion body believed to be formed by the degeneration of mitochondria had very high electron density and its quantity was abundant. On the contrary, in cases where the quantity of sepia-melanin entrance into the spheroid alveolar epithelial cell was small, neither an increase of intramitochondrial granules, an increase of the electron density nor an increase in the quantity of specific inclusion body was found.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Formation and destruction of photoinduced paramagnetic centers in melanin-containing fungi.

Irradiation of the melanin-containing fungi Cladosporium transchelii, its pigmented mutants, Stemphyllium ilicis, Oidiodendron cerealis, and isolated melanin pigment with UV or visible light leads to an increase in the concentration of paramagnetic centers (PC) in melanin pigments, recorded by the EPR technique. Differences were established in the reaction of melanin of UV-sensitive and UV-resistant cultures to illumination. Paramagnetic centers are generated by a single-quantum mechanism (light with lambda less than 900 nm was active). A mechanism is proposed for processes occurring during illumination of dark-pigmented subjects, which includes photoinduced electron transport in melanin and dark recombination of the PC formed in the process.

Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation↗
PubMed1979

Reversible and irreversible changes in hydrogen ion titration curves of melanins.

Hydrogen ion titration curves obtained on melanins prepared and modified differently show recognizable differences. Melanin prepared with NaOH exhibits irreversible loss of functional groups in the base range once titrated acidic. Melanin prepared with NH4OH shows two main branches selected by incubation at an extreme pH for 24 h. Longer exposure reveals other curves but they disappear once a 24-h schedule of titration is resumed. The existence of two major pH branches appears consistent with the oxidation-reduction properties of melanins. These results demonstrate the ability to obtain a reproducible feature in the hydrogen ion titration curves. Thus it is finally possible to quantitate CO2 adsorbed to melanin in solution at basic pH.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1978

[Effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa melanin on antibiotic activity].

The properties of microbial melanines are very diverse. Melanine of P. aeruginosa is little studied. The pigment was isolated from a strain of P. aeruginosa possessing all characteristic properties of the species. Interaction of P. aeruginosa melanine with various antibiotics was determined by the method of serial dilutions in beaf-peptone broth, using Staph. aureus 209 as a test-microbe, which was added to the medium in an amount of 10(6) cells to each tube. It was found that P. aeruginosa melanine differed from DOPA-melanine in a concentration of 1 mg/ml and did not change the activity of penicillin, tetracycline, oleandomycin, kanamycin and gentamicin with respect to Staph. aureus.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1978

Effects of melanin on tyrosine hydroxylase and phenylalanine hydroxylase.

Melanin inhibited rat liver phenylalanine hydroxylase, but activated tyrosine hydroxylase from rat brain (caudate nucleus), rat adrenal glands, and bovine adrenal medulla. Activation of tyrosine hydroxylase by melanin was demonstrated with the extensively dialyzed enzyme and in suboptimal concentrations of the substrate (tyrosine) and the cofactor (6-methyltetrahydropterin). Tyrosine hydroxylase from rat brain was activated by melanin more markedly than that from rat adrenal glands. Purified and extensively dialyzed bovine adrenal tyrosine hydroxylase had two Km values with 6-methyltetrahydropterin, depending upon its concentrations, but the melanin-activated tyrosine hydroxylase had a single Km value and showed the classical Michaelis-Menten kinetics.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1977

Melanin biosynthesis during differentiation of Physarum polycephalum.

Melanin synthesis in the myxomycete Physarum polycephalum occurs during sporulation but not during spherule formation. Melanin-like pigment was extracted from spores. An almost identical substance of polyphenols was extracted from spherules and characterized by its ultraviolet and infrared absorbance spectra. Polyphenol oxidase activity in spherules was very low and showed only one weak isoenzyme band in isoelectric focusing polyacrylamide gels. A much higher activity, and an increasing number of isoenzymes, were detected in sporulating cultures after illumination during the differentiation process. The addition of melanin precursors resulted in the synthesis of brownish-yellow spherules, probably containing dopachrome, whereas the addition of polyphenol oxidase inhibitors resulted in yellow sporangia. The results indicate that melanin synthesis is probably only a stage in maturation but not an essential part of the morphogenetic process itself.

Catechol Oxidase↗
PubMed1977

Aspergillus nidulans mutant lacking alpha-(1,3)-glucan, melanin, and cleistothecia.

A mutation in Aspergillus nidulans led to a loss of both melanin and alpha-(1,3)-glucan, a major wall polysaccharide. In addition, the mutation prevented the formation of cleistothecia. Mutant walls contained increased amounts of beta-(1,3)-glucan and galactose polymers, and electron micrographs indicated that they had lost the outermost wall layer. Such walls were more readily digested by lytic enzymes, and this increased susceptibility to hydrolysis was due to the absence of alpha-(1,3)-glucan and not of melanin. The pleiotropic effects of the mutation are discussed, with particular reference to the hypothesis that alpha-(1,3)-glucan acts as the endogenous carbon source for biosynthetic processes in the stationary phase of growth. In this view, glucan synthesis would be the primary target of the mutation, and the absence of glucan would result in the lack of melanin and cleistothecia, formed after nutrients are exhausted. Two other mutations that lowered themycelial alpha-(1,3)-glucan content also inhibited melanin and cleistothecia production.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1978

Identification and characterization of melanin in tissues and body fluids.

A new method for the unambiguous identification of melanin in biological materials has been developed. It may also be used to differentiate between melanins from various tissues and with various properties. The method is based on the detection and characterization of the free radicals in melanin by Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy. Applications of this approach include the identification of microscopically undetectable melanin in amelanotic melanomas and identification of the nature of the pigment in the Dubin-Johnson Syndrome.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Reduction and azo coupling of quinones. A histochemical study of human cutaneous melanin and adrenochrome.

Cutaneous melanin in formol fixed skin and adrenochrome in dichromate fixed monkey adrenal after adequate bisulfite or dithonite reduction were found to give definite azo coupling reactions. Weaker reactions were obtained on unreduced material, and these disappeared on ferric chloride oxidation. Both cutaneous melanin and adrenochrome appear to exist in a quinhydrone status. Prolongation of dichromate treatment weakens or abolishes azo coupling capacity of adrenochrome. The findings support the concept of quinonization and reduction to prevent and restore azo coupling of enterochromaffin cells and noradrenaline islets of the adrenal. The most effective diazos for melanin were p-nitrodiazobenzene, fast black K and the diazosulfanilic acid, pH 1 pyronin B procedure, for adrenochrome. Diazosafranin and 2-chloro-4-nitrodiazobenzene were also useful. Blue and violet coupling products from toluidine blue and methylene violet RR fail to yield sufficient contrast to be convincing.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1976

Electron-nuclear double resonance in melanins.

Electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) signals from matrix protons interacting with the stable free radicals of "A"- and "B"-type melanins have been observed as a function of pH. In all samples the single line is similar in width and unusually narrow. The ENDOR reduction varies by more than a factor of 10, indicating a large sensitivity of relaxation properties of melanin to sample type. Signals were observed over a wide range of experimental conditions with good signal-to-noise ratio, establishing feasibility for further more detailed ENDOR studies. Incubation in D2O resulted in little change, indicating that the free radical is well buried or protected. No resolved hyperfine structure was seen, consistent with the generally accepted view that melanin is a heterogeneous polymer.

Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy↗
PubMed1976

Ion-exchange in melanin: an electron spin resonance study with lanthanide probes.

Changes are induced in the electron spin resonance signal amplitude and microwave power saturation of the naturally occurring free radical in melanin by bound paramagnetic ions. The changes serve as experimental observables in competition experiments between diamagnetic and paramagnetic metal ions for melanin binding sites and between melanin and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid for paramagnetic metal ions. Evidence is presented for the existence of several specific types of metal binding sites. The interaction of copper with free radicals leading to loss of electron spin resonance signal amplitude is magnetic in nature and not, as has been supposed, chemical.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1979

Melanin and dopa-positive cells in the skin of tropical cattle.

Various histochemical and histological techniques were used to study the melanin and dopa-positive cell distribution in the skin of some tropical and temperate breeds of cattle in Nigeria. Melanin pigments were concentrated in the basal and lower spinous layers of the epidermis and in the hair cortex, follicle sheaths and papillae of the various breeds. In the White Fulani and N'Dama breeds, melanin pigments were however found in all layers of the epidermis. Dopa-positive cells (melanocytes) were observed in the epidermis, dermis and hair follicles; the distribution pattern varied among breeds, being copiously disposed in the basal epidermis and papillary dermis in the White Fulani and Muturu and, except in areas of thick epidermal ridges, scanty in the epidermis and dermis of the Friesian and N'Dama. Mast cell distribution pattern in the various breeds was similar to that of the dopa-positive cells. Peroxidase-positive cells were present in the basal epidermis and upper dermis of the Muturu, widespread in the subepidermal layer of the N'Dama and very scanty in the dermis of the White Fulani and Friesian. Acid phosphatase activity was intense in the granular layer of the Muturu and N'Dama breeds and also in the papillary dermis and hair follicles, whereas alkaline phosphatase-positive dendritic cells, and 'clear' cells were also observed in the basal and upper epidermis.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Variations in melanin and riboflavin content of amphibian liver under the influence of reserpine and amphetamine.

By means of paper chromatography, Lactobacillus casei test and the staining method with the Feulgen reaction, the effects of reserpine and amphetamine on riboflavin and melanin were studied in the liver of Triturus cristatus. It was demonstrated that the concentrations of both melanin and riboflavin can be altered by the influence of these drugs. From the results obtained it is suggested that riboflavin shows a correlation with the density of melanin.

Amphetamine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stimulation of tyrosinase activity and melanin formation of cultured melanoma cells by serum deprivation alone or in combination with dibutyryl cyclic AMP and theophylline.

Serum removal from the media of serial monolayer cultures of the Harding-Passey melanoma during an incubation period of 3 days resulted in an exponentially declining DNA synthesis rate (measured by the incorporation of [14C]thymidine) and in an inhibition of cell proliferation. Protein synthesis, as measured by the incorporation of radioactive leucine, was less affected than DNA synthesis. Incubation in serum-free culture medium resulted in significant rises of tyrosinase activity and cellular melanin content. Addition of dibutyryl adenosine 3':5' monophosphate (Bu2cAMP, 5X10(-4) M) and theophylline (5X10(-4) M) to serum-free cultures caused a further striking increase of tyrosinase activity and melanin formation, while treatment of serum containing cultures with Bu2cAMP and theophylline showed only a slight rise in melanogenesis. It is suggested that these stimulatory effects are mediated by an increased intracellular cAMP level, since a correlation between the degree of melanogenesis and cellular cAMP content was indicated. Treatment of serum-free or serum-containing cultures with the phosphodiesterase inhibitor theophylline (5X10(-4)--10(-3)M) alone revealed only a slight enhancement (about 20%) of melanogenesis. Because augmentation of melanogenesis by serum-free medium alone or together with Bu2cAMP and theophylline was prevented by cycloheximide (or actinomycin D), de novo protein synthesis seems to be required for these stimulatory effects.

Blood↗