Reverse Engineering Applied to Red Human Hair Pheomelanin Reveals Redox-Buffering as a Pro-Oxidant Mechanism.

ABSTRACT: Pheomelanin has been implicated in the increased susceptibility to UV-induced melanoma for people with light skin and red hair. Recent studies identified a UV-independent pathway to melanoma carcinogenesis and implicated pheomelanin's pro-oxidant properties that act through the generation of reactive oxygen species and/or the depletion of cellular antioxidants. Here, we applied an electrochemically-based reverse engineering methodology to compare the redox properties of human hair pheomelanin with model synthetic pigments and natural eumelanin. This methodology exposes the insoluble melanin samples to complex potential (voltage) inputs and measures output response characteristics to assess redox activities. The results demonstrate that both eumelanin and pheomelanin are redox-active, they

SUBMITTER: Kim E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4680885 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature