Melanins and melanogenesis: from pigment cells to human health and technological applications

d’Ischia, Marco; Wakamatsu, Kazumasa; Cicoira, Fabio; Mauro, Eduardo Di; García‐Borrón, José C.; Commo, S; Galván, Ismael; Ghanem, Ghanem; Koike, Kenichi; Meredith, Paul; Pezzella, Alessandro; Santato, Clara; Sarna, Tadeusz; Simon, John D.; Zecca, Luigi; Zucca, Fabio A.; Napolitano, Alessandra; Ito, Shosuke

doi:10.1111/pcmr.12393

Cited by 398 publications

(461 citation statements)

References 289 publications

(368 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

427

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In cosmetic industry, there are great interests in the melanin, especially to protect against the noxious effects of UV radiation by incorporation in skin photoprotection formulations [35,148]. The protective action of melanin is related to its high efficiency to absorb and scatter photons, particularly the higher-energy photons from the UV and blue part of the solar spectrum.…”

Section: Medical Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Production of Melanin Pigment by Fungi and Its Biotechnological Applications

Sponchiado¹,

Sousa²,

Andrade³

et al. 2017

Melanin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Production of the microbial pigments is one of the emerging fields of research due to a growing interest of the industry for safer products, easily degradable and eco-friendly. Fungi constitute a valuable source of pigments because they are capable of producing high yields of the substance in the cheap culture medium, making the bioprocess economically viable on the industrial scale. Some fungal species produce a dark-brown pigment, known as melanin, by oxidative polymerization of phenolic compounds, such as glutaminyl-3,4-dihydroxybenzene (GDHB) or catechol or 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) or 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA). This pigment has been reported to act as "fungal armor" due to its ability to protect fungi from adverse conditions, neutralizing oxidants generated in response to stress. Apart from the scavenging activity, melanin exhibits other biological activities, including thermoregulatory, radio-and photoprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory. Studies have shown that the media composition and cultivation conditions affect the pigment production in fungi and the manipulation of these parameters can result in an increase in pigment yield for large-scale pigment production. This chapter presents a comprehensive discussion of the research on fungal melanin, including the recently discovered biological activities and the potential use of this pigment for various biotechnological applications in the fields of biomedicine, dermocosmetics, materials science, and nanotechnology.

show abstract

Section: Medical Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since melanin has characteristics of functional materials and bioorganic, a growing number of researchers see this pigment with great interest, taking advantage of their properties for numerous biotechnological applications in cosmetics, pharmaceutical, electronic, and food processing industries [12,19,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of Melanin Pigment by Fungi and Its Biotechnological Applications

Sponchiado¹,

Sousa²,

Andrade³

et al. 2017

Melanin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The limited solubility of eumelanin in most organic solvents has rendered challenging the understanding of its physicochemical properties. [4,6] Here, after a brief introduction of molecular structural aspects of eumelanin biopigments and their effect on the properties of the pigment, we critically review the binding properties of eumelanin toward metal cations and eumelaninmetal oxide interfaces. Eumelanin is involved in the accumulation and release of metal cations in the human body.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pheomelanin is a yellowish-red melanin. [4,5] Eumelanin has been intensively studied in recent decades for functional properties, such as UV-vis absorption, metal chelation, and free radical scavenging. It also features an antioxidant behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural melanin pigments and their interfaces with metal ions and oxides: emerging concepts and technologies

Mauro

Soliveri

et al. 2017

MRS Communications

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Melanin (from the Greek μέλας, mélas, black) is a biopigment ubiquitous in flora and fauna, featuring broadband optical absorption, hydration-dependent electrical response, ion-binding affinity as well as antioxidative and radical-scavenging properties. In the human body, photoprotection in the skin and ion flux regulation in the brain are some biofunctional roles played by melanin. Here we discuss the progress in melanin research that underpins emerging technologies in energy storage/conversion, ion separation/water treatment, sunscreens, and bioelectronics. The melanin research aims at developing approaches to explore natural materials, well beyond melanin, which might serve as a prototype benign material for sustainable technologies.

show abstract

“…Recently, importance of melanin, both in human diseases and in technological and industrial applications, atracted signiicant research interests [10]. Melanins, or rather various polydopamines, have found their use in materials science as a coating material for electronics and bioelectronics, in drug delivery systems, as sunscreens, as bioilms, etc.…”

Section: Miroslav Blumenbergmentioning

confidence: 99%