Hu Dan-Ning, Simon John D, Sarna Tadeusz
Tissue Culture Center, Department of Pathology, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and New York Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
Photochem Photobiol. 2008 May-Jun;84(3):639-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2008.00316.x. Epub 2008 Mar 8.
The mammalian eye consists of several layers of pigmented tissues that contain melanin. The eye is a unique organ for pigment cell research because one can isolate and compare melanosomes from different tissues and embryonic origins. Retinal, iris and ciliary pigment epithelial cells are derived from the neural ectoderm, more specifically from the extremity of the embryonic optical cup, which is also the origin of the retina. In contrast, the pigment-generating cells in the choroid and in the stroma of the iris and ciliary body, uveal melanocytes, are developed from the neural crest, the same origin as the melanocytes in skin and hair. This review examines the potential functions of ocular melanin in the human eye. Following a discussion of the role of melanins in the pigment epithelium and uveal melanocytes, three specific topics are explored in detail-photo-screening protective effects, biophysical and biochemical protective effects, and the biologic and photobiologic effects of the two main classes of melanins (generally found as mixtures in ocular melanosomes)--eumelanin and pheomelanin.
哺乳动物的眼睛由几层含有黑色素的色素组织构成。眼睛是色素细胞研究的独特器官，因为人们可以从不同组织和胚胎来源中分离并比较黑素小体。视网膜、虹膜和睫状体色素上皮细胞源自神经外胚层，更具体地说，源自胚胎视杯的末端，而视杯末端也是视网膜的起源。相比之下，脉络膜以及虹膜和睫状体基质中的色素生成细胞，即葡萄膜黑素细胞，是由神经嵴发育而来，与皮肤和毛发中的黑素细胞起源相同。本综述探讨了眼部黑色素在人眼中的潜在功能。在讨论了黑色素在色素上皮和葡萄膜黑素细胞中的作用之后，详细探讨了三个具体主题——光屏蔽保护作用、生物物理和生化保护作用，以及两种主要黑色素（通常在眼部黑素小体中以混合物形式存在）——真黑素和褐黑素的生物学和光生物学效应。
