Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37685907›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of molecular sciences2023

Understanding the Mechanism of Light-Induced Age-Related Decrease in Melanin Concentration in Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells.

Alexander E Dontsov, Marina A Yakovleva, Alexander A Vasin, Alexander A Gulin, Arseny V Aybush, Viktor A Nadtochenko, Mikhail A Ostrovsky

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of molecular sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Photooxidative molecular damage under blue light.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy Analysis of Isolated Melanosomes.Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Alexander E DontsovEmanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia.ORCID 0000-0002-8367-5008
Marina A YakovlevaEmanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia.ORCID 0000-0003-4243-2787
Alexander A VasinFederal Research Center of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, N.N. Semenov RAS, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
Alexander A GulinFederal Research Center of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, N.N. Semenov RAS, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
Arseny V AybushFederal Research Center of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, N.N. Semenov RAS, 119991 Moscow, Russia.ORCID 0000-0002-0496-9105
Viktor A NadtochenkoFederal Research Center of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, N.N. Semenov RAS, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
Mikhail A OstrovskyEmanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia.
Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics · RUInstitute of Biochemical Physics NM Emanuel · RU

Funding

Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia Research Project No 075-15-2020-795 (local identifier 13.1902.21.0027).
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

It is known that during the process of aging, there is a significant decrease in the number of melanosomes in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in the human eye. Melanosomes act as screening pigments in RPE cells and are fundamentally important for protection against the free radicals generated by light. A loss or change in the quality of melanin in melanosomes can lead to the development of senile pathologies and aggravation in the development of various retinal diseases. We have previously shown that the interaction between melanin melanosomes and superoxide radicals results in oxidative degradation with the formation of water-soluble fluorescent products. In the present study, we show, using fluorescence analysis, HPLC, and mass spectrometry, that visible light irradiation on melanolipofuscin granules isolated from RPE cells in the human eye results in the formation of water-soluble fluorescent products from oxidative degradation of melanin, which was in contrast to lipofuscin granules and melanosomes irradiation. The formation of these products occurs as a result of the oxidative degradation of melanin by superoxide radicals, which are generated by the lipofuscin part of the melanolipofuscin granule. We identified these products both in the composition of melanolipofuscin granules irradiated with visible light and in the composition of melanosomes that were not irradiated but were, instead, oxidized by superoxide radicals. In the melanolipofuscin granules irradiated by visible light, ions that could be associated with melanin oxidative degradation products were identified by applying the principal component analysis of the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) data. Degradation of the intact melanosomes by visible light is also possible; however, this requires significantly higher irradiation intensities than for melanolipofuscin granules. It is concluded that the decrease in the concentration of melanin in RPE cells in the human eye with age is due to its oxidative degradation by reactive oxygen species generated by lipofuscin, as part of the melanolipofuscin granules, under the action of light.

Indexed as

LipofuscinSuperoxidesColoring AgentsCytoplasmic GranulesHumansMelaninsRetinal Pigment EpitheliumColoring AgentsLipofuscinMelaninsSuperoxideshuman eyemelanin degradationmelanolipofuscin granulesmelanosomesretinal pigment epitheliumsuperoxidevisible light

Identifiers

PMID37685907
PMCPMC10487480
OpenAlexW4386092031

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.