Radicals in Melanin Biochemistry a

Melanins are light-absorbant polymeric pigments found widely dispersed in nature. They possess many interesting physicochemical properties. One of these is the expression in the polymer of stable free radicals which appear to have a protective action in cells, probably by acting as a sink for diffusible free-radical species. Polymer formation is thought to occur by a free-radical process in which semiquinones are added to the chain. Semiquinones are formed by redox equilibration interactions between metabolic intermediates formed during the tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidation process. In the continued presence of substrate, steady-state concentrations of reactive species are predicted in the reaction system, and the melanogenic pathway may be considered as potentially hazardous for pigment-generating cells. This feature has been exploited by the use of analogue substrates to generate cytotoxic species as a possible rational approach to the treatment of malignant melanoma. One such substance is 4-hydroxyanisole, the oxidation of which gives rise to semiquinone radical species. The possibility that the anisyl semiquinone initiates a mechanism leading to cell damage has not been excluded. However, the current view is that the major cytotoxicity due to the oxidation products of this compound is the result of the action of the corresponding orthoquinone. A number of mechanisms exist for detoxifying quinones if they reach the cytosol such as O-methylation and the formation of thiol adducts with cysteine or glutathione, and these can be used as markers of melanogenesis. In general, however, only small amounts of reactive intermediates of melanogenesis escape from the confines of the melanosome, probably because of their limited lipid solubility. The selective toxic action of anisyl quinone in the treatment of melanoma may, in part, be due to membrane defects in the melanosomes of malignant melanocytes.