Meredith Paul, Powell Ben J, Riesz Jennifer, Nighswander-Rempel Stephen P, Pederson Mark R, Moore Evan G
Soft Condensed Matter Physics Group, University of Queensland Department of Physics, St. Lucia Campus, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
Theory of Condensed Matter Physics Group, University of Queensland Department of Physics, St. Lucia Campus, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
Soft Matter. 2006 Dec 12;2(1):37-44. doi: 10.1039/b511922g.
We discuss recent progress towards the establishment of important structure-property-function relationships in eumelanins-key functional bio-macromolecular systems responsible for photo-protection and immune response in humans, and implicated in the development of melanoma skin cancer. We focus on the link between eumelanin's secondary structure and optical properties such as broad band UV-visible absorption and strong non-radiative relaxation; both key features of the photo-protective function. We emphasise the insights gained through a holistic approach combining optical spectroscopy with first principles quantum chemical calculations, and advance the hypothesis that the robust functionality characteristic of eumelanin is related to extreme chemical and structural disorder at the secondary level. This inherent disorder is a low cost natural resource, and it is interesting to speculate as to whether it may play a role in other functional bio-macromolecular systems.
我们讨论了在真黑素（负责人类光保护和免疫反应的关键功能性生物大分子系统，且与黑色素瘤皮肤癌的发生有关）中建立重要结构-性质-功能关系方面的最新进展。我们重点关注真黑素二级结构与光学性质之间的联系，如宽带紫外-可见吸收和强烈的非辐射弛豫，这两者都是光保护功能的关键特征。我们强调通过将光谱学与第一性原理量子化学计算相结合的整体方法所获得的见解，并提出假说：真黑素的强大功能特性与二级水平上的极端化学和结构无序有关。这种固有的无序是一种低成本的自然资源，推测它是否可能在其他功能性生物大分子系统中发挥作用是很有意思的。
