The fungal pathogen Candida albicans produces dark-pigmented melanin after 3 to 4 days of incubation in medium containing l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA) as a substrate. Expression profiling of C. albicans revealed very few genes significantly up- or downregulated by growth in l-DOPA. We were unable to determine a possible role for melanin in the virulence of C. albicans. However, we show...

Melanins are synthesized by organisms of all biological kingdoms and comprise a heterogeneous class of natural pigments. Certain of these polymers have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several important human fungal pathogens. This study investigated whether the fungal skin pathogen Malassezia furfur produces melanin or melanin-like compounds. A melanin-binding monoclonal antibody (MAb) l...

Melanin possess radioprotective and scavenging properties, and its presence can affect the behavior of melanoma cells, its surrounding environment and susceptibility to the therapy, as showed in vitro experiments. To determine whether melanin presence in melanoma affects the efficiency of radiotherapy (RTH) we evaluated the survival time after RTH treatment in metastatic melanoma patients (n = ...

Although epidermal melanin content has been quantified non-invasively using visible reflectance spectroscopy (VRS), there is currently no way to determine melanin distribution in the epidermis. We have developed a photoacoustic probe that uses a Q-switched, frequency-doubled Nd:YAG (neodymium, yttrium, aluminum, garnet) laser operating at 532 nm to generate acoustic pulses in skin in vivo. The ...

BACKGROUND Lomefloxacin is a potent bactericidal antibiotic. The use of this drug in treatment of various infections is accompanied by serious adverse effects on pigmented tissues. The exact mechanisms of lomefloxacin side effects have not been well established yet. The aim of this study was to characterize the interaction between lomefloxacin and melanin, and to examine how this interaction af...

The combined use of nonlinear optical microscopy and broadband reflectance techniques to assess melanin concentration and distribution thickness in vivo over the full range of Fitzpatrick skin types is presented. Twelve patients were measured using multiphoton microscopy (MPM) and spatial frequency domain spectroscopy (SFDS) on both dorsal forearm and volar arm, which are generally sun-exposed ...

We introduce a useful tool for controlling the skin melanin texture of facial photographs. Controlling the skin melanin texture is an important task in the reproduction of posters, TV commercials, movies, and so on. We used component maps of melanin, which were obtained by a previous method [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 16, 2169 (1999)] as the first processing step. We propose to control the melanin text...

Time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectroscopy was used to study melanin free radicals in human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and tyrosine-derived synthetic melanin. TREPR signal traces from RPE cells reveal in vivo light-induced melanin free radical photochemistry in more detail than previously known. Electron spin polarization reflecting a non-Boltzmann population...

Abstract For ectothermic insects, their colour and size are important determinants of body temperature: larger bodies require more heat to reach a certain temperature, dark colours absorb efficiently. These expressed using melanin, which has been intimately linked with the thermoregulatory capabilities insects. Melanin is also immune defence often used as secondary sexual character in There pot...

Nepeta (Lamiaceae) is an important genus with beneficial medicinal properties. N. sintenisiiBornm. has been used in folk medicine of Iran to cure various diseases. We investigated theanti-melanogenesis effects of n-hexane, MeOH, CH2Cl2, n-BuOH, EtOAc, and H2O extractsisolated from the plant in B16 melanoma cells. Various assays including cytotoxicity, mushroomtyrosinase inhibition, inhibition o...