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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Exp Dermatol. 2014 Jul 10;23(8):529–533. doi: 10.1111/exd.12449

Fig. 1. Principle of adjuvant enhanced skin bleaching.

Fig. 1

We propose that enhanced depigmentation can be achieved by (1) combined application of bleaching phenols such as MBEH and immune adjuvants such as imiquimod, CpG or HSP70 introduced to the skin. The phenolic agents will (2) traffic to the melanosomes within melanocytes found in the basal layer of the epidermis, where they are converted to toxic ortho-quinones that haptenize the tyrosinase enzyme. The modified antigenic peptides are then released by cells under stress or dying melanocytes to (3) come in contact with dermal dendritic cells in combination with co-applied adjuvants to (4) activate melanocyte-reactive T cells that (5) are recruited to the skin to eliminate remaining pigment cells and establish lasting depigmentation.