Dipartimento Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata", Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Roma, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Apr 24;24(9):7783. doi: 10.3390/ijms24097783.
Eumelanin, a macromolecule widespread in all the living world and long appreciated for its protective action against harmful UV radiation, is considered the beneficial component of the melanin family (ευ means good in ancient Greek). This initially limited picture has been rather recently extended and now includes a variety of key functions performed by eumelanin in order to support life also under extreme conditions. A lot of still unexplained aspects characterize this molecule that, in an evolutionary context, survived natural selection. This paper aims to emphasize the unique characteristics and the consequent unusual behaviors of a molecule that still holds the main chemical/physical features detected in fossils dating to the late Carboniferous. In this context, attention is drawn to the duality of roles played by eumelanin, which occasionally reverses its functional processes, switching from an anti-oxidant to a pro-oxidant behavior and implementing therefore harmful effects.
真黑素是一种广泛存在于所有生物界的大分子物质，因其对有害的紫外线辐射具有保护作用而长期受到重视，被认为是黑色素家族的有益成分（在古希腊语中，ευ 意为“好”）。这种最初有限的观点最近得到了扩展，现在包括了真黑素在极端条件下为支持生命所发挥的各种关键功能。这种分子还有许多尚未解释的方面，在进化背景下，它通过了自然选择。本文旨在强调这种分子的独特特征和由此产生的异常行为，这种分子仍然保留了在晚石炭纪的化石中检测到的主要化学/物理特征。在这方面，人们注意到真黑素的双重作用，它偶尔会反转其功能过程，从抗氧化作用转变为促氧化作用，并因此产生有害影响。
