Search results for "melanins"
showing 10 items of 32 documents
Elevated oxidative stress in pied flycatcher nestlings of eumelanic foster fathers under low rearing temperatures
2019
Striking variation in melanin coloration within natural populations is likely due to the different fitness outcomes of alternative phenotypes in varying environmental conditions. There are two types of melanin: eumelanins yield blackish hues, whereas pheomelanins yield reddish hues. The production of eumelanins requires low levels of glutathione (GSH), which is the most important intracellular antioxidant, whereas the production of pheomelanins requires high levels of GSH. We investigated the oxidative status of male pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) with different degrees of melanin coloration under different temperatures during the nestling period. Moreover, we assessed the oxidative …
Melanism is related to behavioural lateralization in nestling barn owls.
2017
5 pages; International audience; Behavioural laterality is a commonly observed phenomenon in many species suggesting there might be an advantage of using dominantly one side over the other for certain tasks. Indeed, lateralized individuals were often shown to be more successful in cognitive tasks compared to non-lateralized conspecifics. However, stressed individuals are also often, but not always, more strongly lateralized. Because barn owl (Tyto alba) females displaying larger black spots on the tip of their ventral feathers produce offspring that are more resistant to a variety of environmental stressful factors, we examined whether laterality is associated with melanin-based coloration.…
The Amount of Melanin Influences p16 Loss in Spitzoid Melanocytic Lesions: Correlation With CDKN2A Status by FISH and MLPA.
2019
AIMS The risk assessment of spitzoid lesions is one of the most difficult challenges in dermatopathology practice. In this regard, the loss of p16 expression and the homozygous deletion of CDKN2A, have been pointed in the literature as reliable indicators of high risk. However, these findings are poorly reproducible, and the molecular bases underlying the loss of p16 expression remain unclear. We aimed to identify the underlying events causing loss of CDKN2A/p16 in spitzoid tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of p16, and the presence of CDKN2A genetic alterations detected through fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and multiplex ligation-depen…
Drug Distribution to Retinal Pigment Epithelium: Studies on Melanin Binding, Cellular Kinetics, and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Comput…
2016
Melanin binding is known to affect the distribution and elimination of ocular drugs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the extent of drug uptake to primary retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells could be estimated based on in vitro binding studies with isolated melanin and evaluate the suitability of single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) in studying pigment binding in vivo with pigmented and albino rats. Binding of five compounds, basic molecules timolol, chloroquine, and nadolol and acidic molecules methotrexate and 5(6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (CDCF), was studied using isolated melanin from porcine choroid-RPE at pH 5.0 and 7.4. The…
Use of electron spectroscopic imaging to determine element composition of the melanin granules in the stria vascularis of the guinea pig.
1998
Electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) was used to analyze the element content of melanin granules in the stria vascularis seen in ultrathin sections of Spurr-embedded cochleae of the guinea pig. To determine element composition, ESI images were taken at different ionization edges, and non-specific background signals were subtracted digitally by an image processing system. The presence of calcium and nitrogen in the melanin granules could be demonstrated clearly. The calcium identified in the melanin granules was then compared with the spatial distributions of calcium binding sites after the application of an antimonate precipitation method, which was used to localize loosely bound calcium. D…
Nitic oxide promotes strong cytotoxicity of phenolic compounds against escherichia coli. The influence of antioxidant defenses
2003
[EN] The induction of mutagenic and cytotoxic effects by simple phenolics, including catechol (CAT), 3,4dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), hydroquinone (HQ), and 2,5-dihydroxyphenylacetic (homogentisic) acid (HGA), appears to occur through an oxidative mechanism based on the ability of these compounds to undergo autoxidation, leading to quinone formation with the production of reactive oxygen species. This is supported by the detection of such adverse effects in plate assays using Escherichia coli tester strains deficient in the OxyR function, but not in OxyR(+) strains. The OxyR protein is a redox-sensitive regulator of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes including catalase and alkyl hydro…
Towards noncontact skin melanoma selection by multispectral imaging analysis
2011
A clinical trial comprising 334 pigmented and vascular lesions has been performed in three Riga clinics by means of multispectral imaging analysis. The imaging system Nuance 2.4 (CRi) and self-developed software for mapping of the main skin chromophores were used. Spe- cific features were observed and analyzed for malignant skin melanomas: notably higher absorbance (especially as the difference of optical density relative to the healthy skin), uneven chromophore distribution over the lesion area, and the possibility to select the "melanoma areas" in the correla- tion graphs of chromophores. The obtained results indicate clinical potential of this technology for noncontact selec- tion of mel…
Biochemical approach on the conservation of drug molecules during hair fiber formation
1997
A biochemical concept for the endogenous incorporation of drug molecules into growing hair is presented. It is based on the principles of transport across biomembranes, on the principles of biotransformation and drug melanin affinity. The approach gives explanations for current observations in hair analysis, which up to date have not been understood sufficiently. Phenomena such as the ratio of parent drug to metabolite in hair, the dependence of incorporation on the physico-chemical properties of the drug, the independence of drug incorporation on active melanogenesis (incorporation into non-pigmented hair) as well as the dependence of drug content on hair pigmentation are elucidated.
Interpretation of Ocular Melanin Drug Binding Assays. Alternatives to the Model of Multiple Classes of Independent Sites
2016
Melanin has a high binding affinity for a wide range of drugs. The determination of the melanin binding capacity and its binding affinity are important, e.g., in the determination of the ocular drug distribution, the prediction of drug effects in the eye, and the trans-scleral drug delivery. The binding parameters estimated from a given data set vary significantly when using different isotherms or different nonlinear fitting methods. In this work, the commonly used bi-Langmuir isotherm, which assumes two classes of independent sites, is confronted with the Sips isotherm. Direct, log-log, and Scatchard plots are used, and the interpretation of the binding curves in the latter is critically a…
Influence of Pigmentation on the Codeine Content of Hair Fibers in Guinea Pigs
1997
Tortoise shell guinea pigs (n = 7) were administered codeine (1 mg/mL codeine-base) in their drinking water for 3 weeks. Black, reddish-brown and white hair was collected separately from each animal before and after treatment. The hair samples were analyzed by GC/MS. The experiment showed positive results for all hair fibers with large individual variability of drug incorporation. Low drug intake resulted in small differences of the drug content in hair fibers different in color, whereas in cases of high drug intake a strong influence of hair pigmentation on the analytical results was observed. The highest drug content was always found in black hair samples, non-pigmented hair showed the lo…