These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Kinetic study on the effect of pH on the melanin biosynthesis pathway.
    Author: Rodríguez-López JN, Tudela J, Varón R, García-Cánovas F.
    Journal: Biochim Biophys Acta; 1991 Feb 15; 1076(3):379-86. PubMed ID: 1900435.
    Abstract:
    This paper deals with the quantitative description of the regulatory effect of pH on the oxidation pathway of L-dopa to yield melanins. Tyrosinase catalyzes the oxidation by molecular oxygen of L-dopa to o-dopaquinone, which evolves non-enzymatically through a branched pathway with cyclization or hydroxylation reactions. The production of several quinones and semiquinones in the pathway has also been reported. The intermediates of the hydroxylation branch have been identified and the corresponding rate constants have been determined. These compounds, such as have been detected in melanosomes and in tumoral cells, have great cytotoxic power and could have physiological significance in acidic media.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]