Team:Pitt/Skin Probiotic/Melanin/Intro

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Latest revision as of 10:27, 17 October 2014

Melanin Intro

We aimed to engineer P. acnes living on the skin to produce melanin with the goal of engineering the bacteria to serve as a living sunscreen for UV protection and to potentially confer a skin tan. Melanin is naturally produced on the skin by melanocytes and is packaged into granules in melanosomes and then transferred to other skin cells such as keratinocytes. The biosynthesis of melanin takes place over a series of biochemical steps. Recently the iGEM team from Tokyo cloned the enzyme MelA that leads to conversion of L-tyrosine into melanin. They showed that this gene can very efficiently produce melanin in E. coli expressing this gene. (Link: http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K193602) Thus we sought to clone this gene into a P. acnes gene vector and requested the Biobricks encoding MelA Part: BBa_K193602.

Figure 1. Melanin protein generator for expression in P. acnes.

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-<h2>Protocol Design Intro</h2>
+<h2>Melanin Intro</h2>
-<p>The natural tendency for P. acnes to reside in the skin makes P. acnes an ideal candidate for a skin-probiotic. Using the transformation protocol optimized by our team, we can insert novel genes for beneficent functions into P. acnes. One such function is to secrete human skin pigment, which would serve as a “natural” sunscreen and potential insect repellent.</p>
+<p>We aimed to engineer <i>P. acnes</i> living on the skin to produce melanin with the goal of engineering the bacteria to serve as a living sunscreen for UV protection and to potentially confer a skin tan. Melanin is naturally produced on the skin by melanocytes and is packaged into granules in melanosomes and then transferred to other skin cells such as keratinocytes. The biosynthesis of melanin takes place over a series of biochemical steps. Recently the iGEM team from Tokyo cloned the enzyme MelA that leads to conversion of L-tyrosine into melanin. They showed that this gene can very efficiently produce melanin in E. coli expressing this gene. (Link: <a href = "http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K193602">http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K193602</a>) Thus we sought to clone this gene into a P. acnes gene vector and requested the Biobricks encoding MelA Part: BBa_K193602.</P>
-<p>Melanin A (MelA) is an enzyme that converts and polymerizes quinone into the large, aromatic Melanin constructs capable of absorbing skin damaging UV light. By incorporating MelA into P. acnes, we hope to create a natural and self-sustainable sunscreen by using a bacteria that is naturally found on the skin. Furthermore, the precursor to melanin, 1,2-benzoquinone, has been shown to repel mosquitos.</p>
+<center>
+<img src = "https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/8/8b/Pitt_melanin.png">
+<p><b>Figure 1. Melanin protein generator for expression in <i>P. acnes.</i></b></p>
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