Researchers have developed a way to increase skin pigmentation without damaging it. These results come out of a follow-up experiment to an earlier study, where a team of scientists successfully induced tanning in a mouse species that normally does not produce the protective form of the pigment melanin. This was accomplished by introducing a new compound forskolin to the mouse skin; forskolin activates a protein further down the pigmentation pathway and doesn’t interrupt the production of melanin. The darkening produced by forskolin is physiologically identical to UV-induced pigmentation without the DNA-damaging effects of UV, according to the study authors. In the present study, researchers have induced a similar darkening in cultured human skin. This may be a big step towards finding new ways of tanning without the dangers of UV radiation.
Authors:
Nisma Mujahid, Yanke Liang, Ryo Murakami, Hwan Geun Choi, Allison S. Dobry, Jinhua Wang, Yusuke Suita, Qing Yu Weng, Jennifer Allouche, Lajos V. Kemeny, Andrea L. Hermann, Elisabeth M. Roider, Nathanael S. Gray, David E. Fisher
Lead author:
David E. Fisher, Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Email: DFisher3@partners.org
Original paper published in Cell Reports on June 13, 2017.
