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Melanin production
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Melanin is the natural pigment that gives color to the skin, the hair, and the eyes. It is made by melanocytes, the cells in the epidermis whose job is to produce pigment, and the raw material is an amino acid called tyrosine.
The work is done by an enzyme, tyrosinase, which needs copper to function. It converts tyrosine into L-DOPA and then into dopaquinone, and that is the rate-limiting step: the one that sets the pace for the whole line. The pigments that result are eumelanin, which gives brown or black color, and pheomelanin, which gives red or yellow.
The pigment does not stay where it was made. It is packed into melanosomes, small packages that travel to the keratinocytes, the neighboring cells. It is an umbrella placed right over the nucleus, and that is how it protects DNA from ultraviolet radiation.
In brief
Melanin is the pigment of skin, hair, and eyes, and melanocytes synthesize it in the epidermis from tyrosine.
Tyrosinase, which depends on copper, converts tyrosine to L-DOPA and then to dopaquinone in the rate-limiting step; eumelanin gives brown or black pigment and pheomelanin gives red or yellow.
The pigment is packed into melanosomes that travel to the keratinocytes and settle over their nuclei, protecting DNA from ultraviolet radiation.
It is an umbrella placed right over the nucleus.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingBiochemistry, Melanin, StatPearlsPublished
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