Can't you wash the black melanocyte white?
Skin color is one of the most obvious parameters describing a person's appearance. Scientists working under the guidance of Dr. Rebecca Ginger have received new information about the participation of one of the proteins in the formation of various skin tones.
In 2005, scientists identified the SLC24A5 gene as playing a crucial role in providing skin color. Rebecca Ginger's group found that the protein product of this gene – NCKX5 – provides the exchange of sodium ions for calcium ions, carried out through the cell membrane under the control of potassium ions. However, it turned out that, unlike other proteins of the NCKX family, NCKX5 is contained not on the outer membrane of the cell, but in the Golgi complex – an intracellular membrane formation, inside the cavities of which proteins and vesicles (membrane vesicles) are processed, modified and sorted.
Blocking the activity of the NCKX5 protein in melanocytes (skin cells synthesizing the pigment melanin) led to a significant decrease in the production of melanin, which provides skin color. The authors also demonstrated that replacing the amino acid alanine, in the original version of the sequence of the NCKX5 molecule located at position 111, with the amino acid threonine, corresponding to the European version of the protein, suppresses its ion-exchange activity.
The authors plan to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the action of the NCKX5 protein. They suggest that NCKX5 may play a direct role in the assembly of melanosomes – specialized vesicles in which melanin synthesis occurs. In this case, changes in the gene encoding this protein and, accordingly, the amino acid sequence of the protein molecule, which increase or decrease the efficiency of the functioning of NCKX5, will affect the volume of total skin pigment production.
We are not talking about the prospects of practical application of the obtained results yet.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily
26.02.2008