The affinity of melanin biopolymers for metal ions, drugs and other organic compounds is an important factor in the etiology of toxic retinopathy, hiperpigmentation, otic lesions and irreversible extrapyramidal disorders. The aim of the presented work was to examine the interaction of local anaesthetic drugs used in ophthalmology with model DOPA-melanin in the presence of metal ions. It has bee...

BACKGROUND Animal melanin patterns are involved in diverse aspects of their ecology, from thermoregulation to mimicry. Many theoretical models have simulated pigment patterning, but little is known about the developmental mechanisms of color pattern formation. In Drosophila melanogaster, several genes are known to be necessary for cuticular melanization, but the involvement of these genes in me...

Drug binding by melanin biopolymers influence the effectiveness of the chemotherapy, radiotherapy and photodynamic therapy. Free radicals of melanins take part in formation of their complex with drugs. The aim of this work was to determine the effect of the two compounds: valproic acid (VPA) and cisplatin (CPT) on free radicals properties of melanin isolated from A-375 melanoma cells. Free radi...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of melanin in influencing the clearance of traumatic hyphema and in the incidence of rebleeds following the hyphemas. METHODS Hyphemas were induced in 30 eyes of New Zealand white albino rabbits using an Nd:YAG laser. A total of 3.75 mg of synthetic melanin suspended in 0.1 mL of balanced salt solution was introduced into the anterior chambers of 16 animals. ...

The ability of Cryptococcus neoformans to synthesize polymerized melanin in vitro has been associated with virulence, but it is unclear whether this fungus synthesizes polymerized melanin during infection. To study this question, we used two approaches: one involved the generation of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to melanin for use in immunohistochemical studies of C. neoformans-infected rodents...

Previously we reported stoichiometric studies on melanin synthesis in cultures of mouse melanoma cells (1). In this system there was no accumulation of intermediates in the Raper-Mason-Nicolaus pathway for melanin synthesis and the amount of hydroxylated tyrosine was quantitatively related to the release of hydrogen as water from positions 3 and 5 of the benzene ring of tyrosine during the seri...

Although photoprotective properties of skin melanin have been well documented, a few studies on the effect of melanin on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation have been reported. To study the interaction of melanin with ROS, scavenging or quenching effect of melanin on O(2) (*-) and (1)O(2) was examined by electron spin resonance (ESR)-spin trapping methods and...

PURPOSE Melanin has emerged as an attractive target for radioimmunotherapy (RIT) of melanoma, and a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody (mAb) 6D2 to melanin is currently in clinical evaluation. We investigated two approaches to improve the targeting of radiation to tumors using melanin-binding mAbs: (a) the use of an additional mAb to melanin could provide information on whether using antibodies t...

Melanin is a complex polymer widely distributed in nature and has been described as an important virulence factor in pathogenic fungi. In the majority of fungi, the mechanism of melanin formation remains unclear. In Fonsecaea pedrosoi, the major etiologic agent of chromoblastomycosis, melanin is stored in intracellular vesicles, named melanosomes. This paper details the ultrastructural aspects ...

Cryptococcus neoformans is a pathogenic fungus that produces melanin when incubated in the presence of certain phenolic substrates such as L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa). Melanin is an enigmatic polymer that is deposited in the cell wall and contributes to virulence. Substantial progress has been made in understanding the synthesis of melanin and the mechanisms by which it contributes to...