Formation of Melanin (IMAGE)
Caption
The crystal structure of latent PPO4 mushroom tyrosinase is converted via proteolytic removal of the C-terminal domain resulting in the active form of tyrosinase. As a result of this reaction, the type-3 copper center becomes exposed to monophenolic substrates (eg tyrosine) which gain access and are involved in a two-stage reaction resulting in quinone. This product subsequently polymerizes and forms the brown pigment, melanin.
Credit
Anette Rompel, University of Vienna
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