Jimbow K, Lee S K, King M G, Hara H, Chen H, Dakour J, Marusyk H
Division of Dermatology and Cutaneous Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
J Invest Dermatol. 1993 Mar;100(3):259S-268S. doi: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12470103.
This report introduces some aspects of our current basic research focus on the unique metabolic pathways within the melanocyte. Using this approach, we hope to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of malignant melanoma and develop early laboratory diagnostic tests for this disease. Specifically, we will discuss that: 1) the synthesis of pheomelanin is markedly increased in malignant melanoma and dysplastic melanocytic nevi; 2) high levels of metabolites of pheomelanin and eumelanin can be detected in the urine and blood of patients with metastatic melanoma; 3) this release of melanin metabolites appears to correlate with tumor thickness and tumor load, including the extent of metastasis; 4) the synthesis of melanosomal proteins also becomes aberrant in malignant melanoma; and 5) this abnormal melanosome synthesis can be utilized in the identification of antigenic epitopes that are uniquely expressed in malignant melanoma. We believe that this synthesis and secretion of abnormal melanin pigment and melanosomal proteins (human melanosome-specific antigen) would be useful for the development of early laboratory diagnostic and monitoring tools for malignant melanoma. In addition, we also report the detection of pheomelanin component in "normal" unexposed skin; however, the relative amount of pheomelanin in the skin does not reflect hair color (e.g., red hair). The nature of this pheomelanin component in the skin needs to be further clarified.
本报告介绍了我们目前对黑素细胞内独特代谢途径的基础研究的一些方面。通过这种方法，我们希望能更好地理解恶性黑色素瘤的病理生理学，并开发针对该疾病的早期实验室诊断测试。具体而言，我们将讨论以下内容：1）在恶性黑色素瘤和发育异常的黑素细胞痣中，褐黑素的合成显著增加；2）在转移性黑色素瘤患者的尿液和血液中可检测到高水平的褐黑素和真黑素代谢物；3）黑色素代谢物的这种释放似乎与肿瘤厚度和肿瘤负荷相关，包括转移程度；4）黑素小体蛋白的合成在恶性黑色素瘤中也变得异常；5）这种异常的黑素小体合成可用于识别在恶性黑色素瘤中独特表达的抗原表位。我们认为，这种异常黑色素色素和黑素小体蛋白（人类黑素小体特异性抗原）的合成和分泌将有助于开发恶性黑色素瘤的早期实验室诊断和监测工具。此外，我们还报告了在“正常”未暴露皮肤中检测到褐黑素成分；然而，皮肤中褐黑素的相对含量并不反映头发颜色（例如，红发）。皮肤中这种褐黑素成分的性质需要进一步阐明。
