Abstract
Melanins are a group of dark insoluble pigments found widespread in nature. In mammals, the brown-black eumelanins and the reddish-yellow pheomelanins are the main determinants of skin, hair, and eye pigmentation and play a significant role in photoprotection as well as in many biological functions ensuring homeostasis. Due to their broad-spectrum light absorption, radical scavenging, electric conductivity, and paramagnetic behavior, eumelanins are widely studied in the biomedical field. The continuing advancements in the development of biomimetic design strategies offer novel opportunities toward specifically engineered multifunctional biomaterials for regenerative medicine. Melanin and melanin-like coatings have been shown to increase cell attachment and proliferation on different substrates and to promote and ameliorate skin, bone, and nerve defect healing in several in vivo models. Herein, the state of the art and future perspectives of melanins as promising bioinspired platforms for natural regeneration processes are highlighted and discussed.
Highlights
The term melanin identifies a heterogeneous group of phenolic polymers found at all levels of the evolutionary scale from fungi and bacteria to plants, mollusks, fish, birds, and mammals, up to man [1]
The dark eumelanins originate from the oxidation of the amino acid L-tyrosine to dopaquinone followed by cyclization to 5,6-dihydroxyindole intermediates 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA), which eventually polymerize to give the final insoluble pigment [1,4]
A growing body of literature reports the successful use of synthetic melanin-like materials and their derivatives as doping/coating materials for several types of dressings and scaffolds for tissue regeneration
Summary
The term melanin identifies a heterogeneous group of phenolic polymers found at all levels of the evolutionary scale from fungi and bacteria to plants, mollusks, fish, birds, and mammals, up to man [1]. Loss of function mutations at the mc1r gene correlates with the red hair phenotype, with a high ultraviolet (UV)-sensitivity and susceptibility to melanoma due to defective epidermal melanization and suboptimal DNA repair [5]. Under these conditions, the eumelanin pathway is impaired; skin pigmentation is dominated by the reddish pheomelanins. The most intriguing physical–chemical properties of melanin-like materials for biomedical applications will be highlighted. The most promising applications and perspectives of melanin-like materials in regenerative medicine will be analyzed. This study is expected to provide strategic guidelines for the development of cutting-edge melanin-based materials for regenerative medicine
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