This work describes a comparative study of the tyrosinase activity determined using three methods which are the most extensively employed; two radiometric assays using L-tyrosine as substrate (tyrosine hydroxylase and melanin formation activities) and one spectrophotometric assay using L-dopa (dopa oxidase activity). The three methods were simultaneously employed to measure the activities of the soluble, melanosomal, and microsomal tyrosinase isozymes from Harding-Passey mouse melanoma through their purification processes. The aim of this study was to find any correlation among the tyrosinase activities measured by the three different assays and to determine whether that correlation varied with the isozyme and its degree of purification. The results show that mammalian tyrosinase has a greater turnover number for L-dopa than for L-tyrosine. Thus, enzyme activity, expressed as mumol of substrate transformed per min, is higher in assays using L-dopa as substrate than those using L-tyrosine. Moreover, the percentage of hydroxylated L-tyrosine that is converted into melanin is low and is affected by several factors, apparently decreasing the tyrosinase activity measured by the melanin formation assay. Bearing these considerations in mind, average interassay factors are proposed. Their values are 10 to transform melanin formation into tyrosine hydroxylase activity, 100 to transform tyrosine hydroxylase into dopa oxidase activity, and 1,000 to transform melanin formation into dopa oxidase activity. Variations in these values due to the presence in the tyrosinase preparations of either inhibitors or regulatory factors in melanogenesis independent of tyrosinase are also discussed.

Dopachrome tautomerase (DCT; EC 5.3.3.12) catalyses the conversion of L-dopachrome into 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid in the mammalian eumelanogenic biosynthetic pathway. This enzyme, also named TRP2, belongs to a family of three metalloenzymes termed the tyrosinase-related proteins (TRPs). It is well known that tyrosinase has copper in its active site. However, the nature of the metal ion in the active site of DCT is under discussion. Whereas theoretical predictions based on similarity between the protein sequences of the TRPs suggest the presence of copper, the different inhibition pattern of DCT with some metal chelators compared with that of tyrosinase suggests that the nature of the metal ion could differ. Direct estimations of the metal content in purified DCT preparations show the presence of around 1.5 Zn atoms/molecule and the absence of copper. Apoenzyme preparation by treatment of DCT with cyanide or o-phenanthroline followed by reconstitution experiments of tautomerase activity in the presence of different ions confirmed that the metal cofactor for the DCT active site is zinc. Our results are consistent with Zn2+ chelation by the highly conserved histidine residues homologous to the histidines at the classical copper-binding sites in tyrosinase. This finding accounts for the reaction catalysed by DCT, i.e. a tautomerization, versus the copper-mediated oxidations catalysed by tyrosinase. Based on the predicted tetrahedrical coordination of the zinc ions in the enzyme active site, a molecular mechanism for the catalysis of L-dopachrome tautomerization is proposed. From the present data, the existence of additional ligands for metal ions other than zinc in the DCT molecule, such as the proposed cysteine iron-binding sites, cannot be completely ruled out. However, if such sites exist, they could be subsidiary binding sites, whose function would be likely to stabilize the protein.

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An optical, ultrastructural, and biochemical study of the melanin accumulation nodules found in the kidney of the teleost fish Sparus auratus is presented. These nodules are randomly distributed in the interstitium of the renal tissue. They are formed by large aggregates of cells replete with melanin granules. The melanin granules occur singly or also in aggregates inside the cells. Most of the granules are electron-dense, but sometimes small electron-lucent spaces within them can be seen. Some secondary lysosomes and dendritic processes can also be observed. Biochemical studies have proved for the first time the existence of measurable tyrosinase activity in those nodules. That activity was assayed using three methods: tyrosine hydroxylation, dopa oxidation, and melanin formation. Furthermore, inhibitors of well-characterized plant and animal skin tyrosinases were effective agents for inhibiting those activities in fish kidney preparations. This finding supports the notion of the existence of true tyrosinase in the melanin accumulation nodules of this tissue. Taking into account the results obtained, the origin and functions of the melanin-containing cells found in the teleost fish kidney are discussed.

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