d'Ischia M, Prota G
Department of Organic and Biological Chemistry, University of Naples Federico II, Italy.
Pigment Cell Res. 1997 Dec;10(6):370-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0749.1997.tb00694.x.
No longer dismissed as just a mere curiosity in the family of melanin pigments, neuromelanin is attracting increasing interest as a central constituent of certain populations of dopaminergic neurons in the human substantia nigra, which may hold the key for the understanding of neuron functioning and degeneration in aging and in Parkinson's disease. It is the purpose of this article to provide a concise review of the most significant data on the origin, structure, and functional significance of neuromelanin that accrued over the past few years. It also aims at critically surveying the currently debated views regarding the role of such intriguing pigment in the etiology and biochemical pathology of Parkinson's disease.
神经黑色素不再仅仅被视为黑色素家族中的一种单纯的奇特物质，它作为人类黑质中某些多巴胺能神经元群体的核心成分，正吸引着越来越多的关注，这可能是理解衰老和帕金森病中神经元功能及退化的关键。本文旨在简要回顾过去几年积累的关于神经黑色素的起源、结构和功能意义的最重要数据。它还旨在批判性地审视目前关于这种有趣色素在帕金森病病因学和生化病理学中作用的争议观点。
