The accumulation of l-3:4-dihydroxyphenylalanine in the tyrosinase-tyrosine reaction

Melanosome biogenesis in the pigmentation of mammalian skin

Melanins, the main pigments of the skin and hair in mammals, are synthesized within membrane-bound organelles of melanocytes called melanosomes. Melanosome structure and function are determined by a cohort of resident transmembrane proteins, many of which are expressed only in pigment cells, that localize specifically to melanosomes. Defects in the genes that encode melanosome-specific proteins or components of the machinery required for their transport in and out of melanosomes underlie various forms of ocular or oculocutaneous albinism, characterized by hypopigmentation of the hair, skin and eyes and by visual impairment. We review major components of melanosomes, including the enzymes that catalyze steps in melanin synthesis from tyrosine precursors, solute transporters that allow these enzymes to function, and structural proteins that underlie melanosome shape and melanin deposition. We then review the molecular mechanisms by which these components are biosynthetically delivered to newly forming melanosomes-many of which are shared by other cell types that generate cell type-specific lysosome-related organelles. We also highlight unanswered questions that need to be addressed by future investigation.

Tyrosinase: the four oxidation states of the active site and their relevance to enzymatic activation, oxidation and inactivation

Tyrosinase is an enzyme widely distributed in the biosphere. It is one of a group of proteins with a strongly conserved bicopper active centre able to bind molecular oxygen. Tyrosinase manifests two catalytic properties; monooxygenase and oxidase activity. These actions reflect the oxidation states of the active centre. Tyrosinase has four possible oxidation states and the details of their interaction are shown to give rise to the unusual kinetic behaviour of the enzyme. The resting state of the enzyme is met-tyrosinase [Cu(II)2] and activation, associated with a 'lag period', involves reduction to deoxy-tyrosinase [Cu(I)2] which is capable of binding dioxygen to form oxy-tyrosinase [Cu(II)2·O2]. Initially the conversion of met- to deoxy-tyrosinase is brought about by a catechol that is indirectly formed from an ortho-quinone product of tyrosinase action. The primary function of the enzyme is monooxygenation of phenols to ortho-quinones by oxy-tyrosinase. Inactivation of the enzyme results from monooxygenase processing of catechols which can lead to reductive elimination of one of the active-site copper ions and conversion of oxy-tyrosinase to the inactive deact-tyrosinase [Cu(II)Cu(0)]. This review describes the tyrosinase pathways and the role of each oxidation state in the enzyme's oxidative transformations of phenols and catechols.

ENZYMES IN ONTOGENESIS (ORTHOPTERA) : XIII. ACTIVATION OF PROTYROSINASE AND THE OXIDATION OF ASCORBIC ACID

1. Protyrosinase from the egg of the grasshopper, Melanoplus differentialis, can be activated by excess sodium oleate or Aerosol. 2. The 3:4 quinone products of the reaction of activated protyrosinase with tyramine or tyrosine will oxidize ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid. 3. The velocity of this latter oxidation of ascorbic acid increases with the amount of tyramine or tyrosine. 4. The oxidation of ascorbic acid by the tyramine-tyrosinase reaction delays the time of appearance of a red color associated with an indole quinone intermediary product in the formation of melanin. 5. Protyrosinase, in itself, and in the presence of tyrosinase substrates does not bring about the oxidation of ascorbic acid. 6. A naturally occurring substrate in a preparation of protyrosinase, sufficient to cause the oxidation of ascorbic acid, can be removed by dialysis against a 0.9 per cent sodium chloride solution. 7. Dialysis against such a solution does not change the properties of protyrosinase; the inactive enzyme must still be activated before it will catalyze the oxidation of tyramine or tyrosine. 8. When the natural substrate, tyrosine, or tyramine is absent, activation of protyrosinase does not result in the oxidation of ascorbic acid.

Mechanistic studies of catechol generation from secondary quinone amines relevant to indole formation and tyrosinase activation

The biological significance of the spontaneous cyclization and redox reactions of ortho-quinone amines is that these appear to be the mechanism of formation of the indolic components of melanin and are also involved in the autoactivation of tyrosinase. We have previously shown that activation of tyrosinase is prevented by the formation of a cyclic betaine from a tertiary amine analogue. Evidence is presented to show that cyclization of ortho-quinones by Michael addition also occurs in the oxidation of secondary catecholamines. Three varieties of cyclic product have been detected and their formation is influenced by the nature of the N-substituent. Five-membered betaine rings form directly and, although six- and seven-membered rings also form, a transient spiro isomer of the ortho-quinone was in some cases detected as an intermediate. The heterocyclic products formed as betaines undergo redox exchange with residual quinone to form the corresponding aminochromes. We have established the kinetic constants of these reactions, either directly by pulse radiolysis measurements or by inference using a computer model of the reaction pathway to fit the observed data. To investigate the potential biological applications of this chemistry the system was also examined by tyrosinase-catalysed oxidation of the catecholamine substrates in which there is re-oxidation of the catechol formed by the redox exchange reaction and enables measurement of oxygen utilization stoichiometry. We show that the redox exchange reaction is unaffected by side-chain modification whereas cyclization is dependent on both electronic and steric factors. In the light of these studies we conclude that the failure of tertiary amine-derived betaines to undergo redox exchange, and thus block in vitro activation of tyrosinase, is due to the absence of a second exchangeable proton.

Pulse radiolysis studies of ortho-quinone chemistry relevant to melanogenesis

The contributions of pulse radiolysis towards characterisation of unstable ortho-quinones relevant to melanogenesis are reviewed. The quinones discussed include dopaquinone, the precursor of both eumelanogenesis and phaeomelanogenesis, and 5-S-cysteinyldopaquinone, an early component of the phaeomelanogenic pathway. Redox exchange between dopaquinone and 5-S-cysteinyldopa is shown to be a determinant of the balance between eumelanogenesis and phaeomelanogenesis. Ortho-quinones resulting from the oxidation of tertiary N,N-dialkylcatecholamines cyclise to redox-inactive betaines which fail to autoactivate tyrosinase. This is consistent with the dopa detected during melanogenesis catalysed by tyrosinase being formed indirectly by a combination of dopaquinone intramolecular reductive addition to form leucodopachrome (cyclodopa), followed by redox exchange between remaining dopaquinone and leucodopachrome. Rapid tautomerism of the ortho-quinone of 4-cyanomethylcatechol to a redox-inactive quinomethane likewise inhibits tyrosinase autoactivation. The incorporation of trihydric phenol moieties in melanin is modelled by the reactions of several ortho-quinones with phloroglucinol, which itself is not directly oxidised by tyrosinase due to the meta-positioning of the hydroxyl groups. The importance of a susceptibility towards nucleophilic attack as well as a propensity to undergo redox-exchange, in the chemistry of melanogenic ortho-quinones, is emphasised.

Tyrosinase kinetics: a semi-quantitative model of the mechanism of oxidation of monohydric and dihydric phenolic substrates

A mathematical model of phase I melanogenesis is described based on the differential reactivity of tyrosinase according to the redox status of the active site copper atoms shown by Lerch and co-workers (see Lerch, 1981, Metal Ions in Biological Systems (Sigel, H., ed.) Vol. 13, pp. 143-186. New York: Marcel Dekker) in combination with the indirect formation of the catecholic intermediate substrate. In this model the unusual autoactivation kinetics of tyrosinase are explained by recruitment of enzyme from the met -form, in which the active-site copper atoms are in the oxidized (Cu(II)) state, by 2-electron donation from catechol oxidation. Using estimates of the values for the rate constants of the six reactions involved, the general characteristics of the model are shown to be consistent with the kinetic behaviour of tyrosinase in vitro. These include a lag period which is sensitive to catechol addition.

Tyrosinase kinetics: failure of the auto-activation mechanism of monohydric phenol oxidation by rapid formation of a quinomethane intermediate

When 3,4-dihydroxybenzylcyanide (DBC) is oxidized by mushroom tyrosinase, the first visible product, identified as the corresponding quinomethane, exhibits an absorption maximum at 480 nm. Pulse-radiolysis experiments, in which the o-quinone is formed by disproportionation of semiquinone radicals generated by single-electron oxidation of DBC, showed that the quinomethane (A480 6440 M-1.cm-1) is formed through the intermediacy of the o-quinone with a rate constant at neutral pH of 7.5 s-1. The oxygen stoichiometry of the formation of the quinomethane by tyrosinase-catalysed oxidation of DBC was 0.5:1. On the basis of oxygen utilization rates the calculated Vmax was 4900 nmol.min-1 and the apparent Km was 374 microM. The corresponding monohydric phenol, 4-hydroxybenzylcyanide (HBC), was not oxidized by tyrosinase unless the enzyme was pre-exposed to DBC, the maximum acceleration of HBC oxidation being obtained by approximately equimolar addition of DBC. These results are consistent with tyrosinase auto-activation on the basis of the indirect formation of the dihydric phenol-activating cofactor. The rapid conversion of the o-quinone to the quinomethane prevents the formation of the catechol by reduction of the o-quinone product of monohydric phenol oxidation from occurring in the case of the compounds studied. In the absence of auto-activation, the kinetic parameters for HBC oxidation by tyrosinase were estimated as Vmax 70 nmol.min-1 and Km 309 microM. The quinomethane was found to decay with a rate constant of 2k 38 M-1.s-1, as determined both by pulse-radiolysis and tyrosinase experiments. The second-order kinetics indicate that a dimer is formed. In the presence of tyrosinase, but not in the pulse-radiolysis experiments, the quinomethane decay was accompanied by a steady-state oxygen uptake concurrently with the generation of a melanoid product measured by its A650, which is ascribed to the formation of an oligomer incorporating the oxidized dimer.

Tyrosinase autoactivation and the problem of the lag period

Evidence is presented for the binding of the quinone oxidation product of the monohydric phenol substrate, 4-hydroxyanisole, to mushroom tyrosinase. Column chromatography and SDS-PAGE separation showed labelling of the enzyme when incubated with 14C ring-labelled 4-hydroxyanisole. It is proposed that covalent binding to the enzyme and other proteins is through reaction of accessible nucleophilic groups, including thiols and amino groups, with the anisylquinone. This reductive addition enables the indirect generation of the catecholic substrate, which acts as an electron donor for the bicupric active site of met-tyrosinase and explains the lag kinetics of tyrosinase oxidation of non-cyclizing substrates. The effects of diluting the enzyme or the addition of amino acids on the lag period was consistent with a mechanism involving indirect generation of the dihydric phenol, which acts as the met-enzyme-recruiting substrate.

Tyrosinase kinetics: failure of acceleration in oxidation of ring-blocked monohydric phenol substrate

When 2,5,6-trimethyl-4-hydroxyanisole is used as substrate for mushroom tyrosinase the oxidation rate is slow and the kinetics do not exhibit an initial acceleration (lag period), in contrast to the kinetics of oxidation of the parent compound, 4-hydroxyanisole. This finding is interpreted as evidence that the acceleration of oxidation of 4-hydroxyanisole is indirectly contingent on a reductive nucleophile addition to the orthoquinone product of the monohydric phenol, which is prevented by ring methylation. Such a view is consistent with the proposal that the lag-phase characteristic of the kinetics of monohydric phenol oxidation by tyrosinase is due to the activation of previously inactive enzyme by electron donation from an orthodiphenol substrate formed from the orthoquinone oxidation product.

Evidence of the indirect formation of the catecholic intermediate substrate responsible for the autoactivation kinetics of tyrosinase

Tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) exhibits unusual kinetic properties in the oxidation of monohydric phenol substrates consisting of a lag period that increases with increasing substrate concentration. The cause of this is an autocatalytic process dependent on the generation of a dihydric phenol substrate, which acts as an activator of the enzyme. Experiments with N-substituted dihydric phenol substrates (N-methyldopamine, N-acetyldopamine) demonstrate that oxygen consumption is retarded in the N-acetyl substituted material due to a diminished rate of cyclization. The oxygen uptake exhibited a similar pattern when N-acetyltyramine was oxidized, and this was reflected by a prolongation of the lag period. N,N-Dipropyldopamine was oxidized with normal kinetics but with an oxygen stoichiometry of 0.5 mol of oxygen/mol of substrate. We show that this is the result of the formation of a stable indoliumolate product with oxidation-reduction properties that prevent the formation of dopaminochrome, thus blocking further stages in the tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidation. Evidence that the indoliumolate product is formed by cyclization of the ortho-quinone is presented by pulse radiolysis studies, which demonstrate the formation of the ortho-quinone (by disproportionation of the corresponding semiquinones), which cyclizes to give the indoliumolate. The rate constant for cyclization was shown to be 48 s-1 (at pH 6.0). Tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidation of the monohydric phenol analogue, N, N-dimethyltyramine, was shown to require the addition of a dihydric phenol. Oxygen utilization then exhibited a stoichiometry of 1.0, indicating that the reactions proceed only as far as the cyclization. The analogous stable cyclic indoliumolate product was shown to be formed, with UV absorption and NMR spectra closely similar to the indoliumolate derived from N,N-dipropyldopamine. This material was methylated by catechol O-methyltransferase but was unreactive to redox reagents. The formation of the cyclic product accounts for the indefinite lag when N,N-dimethyltyramine is used as the substrate for tyrosinase in the absence of a dihydric phenol cofactor.

Melanogenesis-targeted anti-melanoma pro-drug development: effect of side-chain variations on the cytotoxicity of tyrosinase-generated ortho-quinones in a model screening system

A set of 26 substituted phenols, 10 of which were synthesised in our laboratories, were tested for their rate of oxidation by mushroom tyrosinase in vitro as determined by oximetry and spectrophotometry and for their cytotoxic action in a model system. With one exception (4-hydroxybenzoic acid) all the agents tested were oxidised to the corresponding ortho-quinones. The maximum rates of oxidation varied between 15.1 +/- 0.59 nmoles oxygen consumed per minute (4-(2-thioethylthio)phenol) and 372.9 +/- 5.61 nmoles O2/ min. (4-(2-Hydroxyethylthio)phenol) in a reaction system comprising 300 units tyrosinase and 200 microM substrate. The rates of generation of quinone were in close agreement with these oximetric data. Some anomalies in oxygen stoichiometry were observed due to reoxidation of reaction products. Four categories of compounds were tested: those known to undergo side-chain cyclisation (such as tyrosine) (Group A), alkylphenols of increasing chain length with or without terminal hydroxyl groups (Group B), compounds with charged or bulky side-chains (Group C) and agents with oxy-, thio- and selenyl-ether side-chains (Groups D, E and F). In the majority of cases, the cytotoxicity, measured by the reduction of thymidine incorporation in cells exposed for 30 min to the agent in the presence of tyrosinase, reflected the rate of oxidation and is ascribed to the toxic action of the derived ortho-quinone. Tyrosinase-dependent cytotoxicity was absent in cyclising (Group A) and in Group C compounds. Toxicity, expressed by comparison with 4-hydroxyanisole (4HA) (IC50 = 11.7 microM), ranged between 0.36 (4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol) and 1.07 (3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propanol) for Group B compounds, and be-tween 0.83 (4-ethoxyphenol) and 2.08 (4-(2-hydroxyethylthio)phenol) for groups D, E and F. Addition of glutathione to the toxicity assay system abrogated the cytotoxic action and, on the basis of spectrophotometric data, this is ascribed to the prevention of cellular thiol depletion by the ortho-quinone products of tyrosinase oxidation of the phenolic substrates. The lack of toxicity of the group C compounds may be due to the inability of their derived quinones to gain access to the cells. Addition of catalase or deferoxamine to the incubation medium was without effect on tyrosinase-dependent toxicity.

Inability to demonstrate hydroxylation of tyrosine by murine melanoma "tyrosinase" (L-DOPA oxidase), using the tritiated water assay technique

Validity of the tritiated water assay technique for tyrosine hydroxylase activity as a qualitative method was demonstrated with mushroom tyrosinase. Using this method, isolated murine melanoma "tyrosinase" (L-dopa oxidase) showed no tyrosine hydroxylase activity. This finding supports previous studies in our laboratory which used a variety of histochemical and biochemical methods. The nonenzymatic production of tritiated water caused by tritium exchange with hydrogen peroxide complicates the use of the tritiated water assay technique with crude systems, since hydrogen peroxide is generated by a variety of oxidase reactions. For this reason, previous studies using the tritiated water assay technique with crude systems are ambiguous.

The toxicity of melanin precursors

The quinone intermediates resulting from tyrosinase-mediated oxidation of tyrosine were evaluated as sulfhydryl reagent inhibitors of purified calf thymus DNA polymerase alpha in order to determine which of these might be cytotoxic. Dopachrome and an oxidation product of 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalanine were relatively ineffective as inhibitors of DNA polymerase alpha. On the other hand, a dopaquinone analogue, 4-(2-N-acetylaminoethyl)-1,2-benzoquinone, synthesized from N-acetyl dopamine, was demonstrated to have marked affinity for this sulfhydryl enzyme. This property was shared by 1,2-benzoquinone. These studies point to dopaquinone as a significant toxic metabolite in melanin biosynthesis.

The isolation of an o-diphenal oxidase from third-instar larvae of the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala

1. The isolation of an o-diphenol oxidase from an acetone-dried powder of late-third-instar larvae of Calliphora erythrocephala was investigated. An insoluble and micro-crystalline fraction containing the enzyme activity was obtained after fractionating extracts of the acetone-dried powder with (NH4)2SO4 and acetone. 2. This fraction can be solubilized in 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulphate without loss of activity. 3. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate shows that the o-diphenol oxidase is a minor component of the extracts from the acetone-dried powder. 4. The o-diphenol oxidase was purified by zonal centrifugation on a sucrose density gradient in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. 5. The amino acid composition of the purified enzyme resembles that of some other o-diphenol oxidases. 6. The subunit composition of the o-diphenol oxidase is discussed.

The hydroxylation of tyrosine by an enzyme from third-instar larvae of the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala

1. Two pro-(phenol oxidase) were distinguished when the blood of late-third-instar larvae of Calliphora erythrocephala was electrophoresed in polyacrylamide gels with Tris-glycine buffer, pH 8.3. One pro-(phenol oxidase), after activation by an enzyme readily catalyses the oxidation of both L-tyrosine and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa). The second enzyme catalyses the oxidation of L-dopa but not of L-tyrosoine. 2. One of the pro-(phenol oxidases) was purified over 2000-fold from homogenates of whole larvae. This enzyme, after activation, catalyses the oxidation of both dopa and tyrosine. On electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels with Tris-glycine buffer, pH 8.3, it has the same mobility as the enzyme in the blood which catalyses the oxidation of both tyrosine and dopa. 3. The pro-(phenol oxidase)-activating enzyme was purified over 100-fold from homogenates of whole larvae. 4. The oxidation of L-tyrosine, in the presence of the activated purified phenol oxidase, reached a steady maximum rate after a lag period that was directly related to tyrosine concentration and inversely related to enzyme concentration. 5. The effect of the addition of electron donors on the lag period was studied. Dopa, dopamine (3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) and 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6,7-dimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropteridine are the most effective hydrogen donors. 3,4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid, the oxidation of which was not catalysed by the activated pro-(phenol oxidase), did not affect the lag period.

Enzyme localization during melanogenesis

The DOPA-reaction was used to identify tyrosinase in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the neural crest melanoblast of Taricha torosa, the California newt. In this urodele there is a nuclear DOPA-positive response during the normal embryonic development from the late blastula stage to the nucleus of the early melanocyte. During the gastrula stages, all nuclei of this newt are DOPA-positive. This positive nuclear response fades away after the formation of the neural crest, save in the melanoblasts. The only cells that give a positive DOPA marking in the cytoplasm are the melanoblasts. This cytoplasmic reaction appears while the melanoblast nucleus still gives a DOPA-positive reaction. Tyrosinase activity, as marked by unlabeled DOPA, has ceased in the fully mature melanocyte. The red nuclei, seen in some of the animals in the maturing melanocyte and adjacent tissues, may be in the hallachrome stage of melanin formation. There is a diffuse distribution of DOPA reactivity in the resting nucleus, and an adherence of the DOPA-marking in the region of the dividing chromosomes in the mitosis of DOPA-positive nuclei of the melanoblast. These observations suggest that tyrosinase may be among the chromosomally bound enzymes of the chromatin space.