Enhancement of pheomelanogenesis by L-dopa in the mouse melanocyte cell line, TM10, in vitro.

Cells of TM10, an established cell line, are melanocytes that contain equal amounts of eumelanin (black pigment) and pheomelanin (yellow pigment). The content of pheomelanin drastically increased when the cells were cultured in growth medium containing 0.2mM-L-dopa (L-dihydroxyphenylalanine), which is the common precursor for both eumelanogenesis and pheomelanogenesis. After this treatment, the amount of pheomelanin was 3.7-fold greater than that of control in TM10, whereas the amount of eumelanin changed very little. In contrast, 5-S-cysteinyl-dopa, which is the specific precursor for pheomelanogenesis downstream of L-dopa, did not cause preferential increase in pheomelanogenesis. Ultrastructural observations also confirmed these results; in 0.2mM-L-dopa, an increase in the number of pheomelanosomes was observed in the cytoplasm of TM10 cells. Our results also suggest that the L-dopa treatment results in a decrease in tyrosinase activity per melanosome.