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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Drug Discov Today Dis Mech. 2008;5(2):e189–e199. doi: 10.1016/j.ddmec.2008.02.001

Figure 1. Schematic of the melanin synthetic pathway and enzymes involved that occur specifically in melanosomes.

Figure 1

Three enzymes are indispensable for the synthesis of melanin (eu- and pheo-melanogenesis as discussed in the text). Tyrosinase (TYR) is the rate-limiting enzyme for initial melanogenesis; DOPAchrome tautomerase (DCT) and tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1) are also involved in modulating eumelanogenesis. So far, no specific enzymes related to pheomelanogenesis have been detected. Other melanosome-specific proteins that help modulate melanin biosynthesis are listed.

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