Melanoma is an aggressive malignant tumor that undergoes rapid growth and metastasis in a short time; tyrosinase (TYR) is an important biomarker for melanoma diagnosis as it is over-expressed in melanoma cells.
Tyrosinase transcripts of the same size and abundance were detected in a subset (three of eight) of nonpigmented, tyrosinase-negative melanoma cell lines, suggesting that post-transcriptional events are important in regulating tyrosinase activity.
Tyrosinase, a copper-containing enzyme existing widely in plants, animals and microorganisms, usually serves as an important biomarker in melanoma, and is also related to hyperpigmentation of the skin, melasma, age spots and albinism.
Tyrosinase (TYR) which can catalyze the oxidation of catechol is recognized as a significant biomarker of melanocytic lesions, thus developing powerful methods for the determination of TYR activity is highly desirable for the early diagnosis of melanin-related diseases, including melanoma.
A cDNA clone, pHT gamma 1, representing human tyrosinase mRNA was isolated by screening a melanoma cDNA library with a synthetic oligonucleotide complementary to a segment of the human tyrosinase cDNA, Pmel 34 [Kwon et al.(1987) Proc. nat.Acad.Sci.USA 84, 7473-7477].
A construct consisting of 209 bp of the human tyrosinase promoter linked to two enhancer elements was demonstrated to drive high-level, melanoma-specific expression of a beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) reporter gene in transient transfection assays.
A preliminary study in human blood samples demonstrated a baseline positive tyrosinase determination in 64% (16/25) of advanced melanoma patients using the RT-PCR nested assay.
A recombinant vector based on the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) was used for expression of human tyrosinase, a melanoma-specific differentiation antigen, and evaluated for its efficacy as an antitumor vaccine.
A series of N-aryl-2-phenyl-hydrazinecarbothioamides have been investigated as possible inhibitors of tyrosinase, an enzyme involved in the development of melanomas.
Adjustment for all clinical potential confounders showed that melanoma risks attributable to MC1R and SLC45A2 variants strongly persisted (OR: 2.01 95% CI: 1.49-2.72 and OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.31-0.80, respectively), while the association of TYRp.Arg402Gln was no longer significant.