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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Melanogenesis is a complex process that involves many genes which leads to production and distribution of the melanin pigment. Melanin is a dark biological pigment derived by the oxidation and subsequent polymerization of phenolic compounds. There are two types of melanin viz., eumelanin (black-brown color) and pheomelanin (yellow-red color). Melanin is found in different parts of the body of the animal like skin, brain, eye, ear and perform different functions apart from pigmentation. The main biosynthetic pathway of melanogenesis in all animals is Raper-Mason pathway. Melanogenesis pathway is regulated by different pathways which involve many genes like MC1R, AC, β-catenin, RAS, BRAF, MAPK, MITF etc. Melanin has very unique properties like redox capacity, metal chelating properties or free radical scavenging properties etc. Because of these properties Melanin and melanin like materials (PDA-polydopamine) have different applications in the field of dermatology, cosmetics, biomedicine as well as anti-pollution product technologies and many more. This review presents a general overview of melanin and melanogenesis in different types of organisms and applications of melanin in different biological fields.