Melanin is a pigment that does a lot more than color skin
Melanin is a natural pigment found in many living things including humans. It is known to give the skin its brown coloration. Its role is essential because it helps protect the skin against ultraviolet rays.
In humans, the type and concentration of melanin notably define the color of the skin, hair, and eyes.
In common parlance, melanin generally refers to eumelanin. This is the famous brown to black pigment responsible for the dark color of the skin. The greater its concentration in the superficial layers of the skin, the darker the skin appears.
These cells are composed of dendrites (branches) which distribute the grains of melanin towards the surface of the skin. The manufacture of the pigment results from a chain of complex reactions: UV light causes the expression of a hormone (alpha-MSH), which gives the order to an enzyme (tyrosinase) to oxidize tyrosine, an amino acid present in the body.
It then evolves until it forms melanin. Melanin is involved in the mechanisms of tanning and plays an essential photoprotective role. It can capture ultraviolet (UV) rays known to be harmful to the skin.
There are 2 types of ultraviolet radiation can reach the skin and damage it: UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays penetrate deep into the skin and can cause significant damage. They are particularly involved in the development of wrinkles, skin spots, precancerous skin lesions and skin cancer. In high doses, UVB rays burn the skin and promote cancerous development.
melanin appears as brown granules less than 800 nanometers. Scientists define it as a macromolecule, that is to say a very large molecule.
- Protects skin from harmful effects of HEV light
- Prevents oxidative stress
- Prevents the generation of an impaired barrier
- Prevents skin aging that is generated though accelerated cell senescence
- Prevents hyperpigmentation
PROTECTS FROM HEV LIGHT (HIGH ENERGY VISIBLE LIGHT) OR BLUE LIGHT
The sun is essential not only for the synthesis of vitamin D, which enables us to fix the calcium and phosphorus we need for our bones, but also for the prevention of depression, the regulation of our internal clocks, and to improve our ability to learn, among other things. However, while it is important to us, it is also very dangerous in high doses, and several visible and invisible forms of radiation can damage the skin. Until a few years ago, it was thought that only UV rays affected skin cells, but recent studies have shown that unfortunately almost all types of light affect the skin. Depending on their wavelength, they cause various cutaneous malfunctions that accelerate the skin aging process, thereby changing the skin’s external appearance, by provoking redness, spots, fine lines, and wrinkles. Melanin protects skin from this very close light
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