Mighty Melanin: How a Synthetic Version Could Repair Skin

By Kelley Northam

While many of us enjoy soaking up some sunshine, many of us have also experienced sunshine’s painful aftermath—sunburn. Sunburn can take the fun out of a beach trip and cause long-term damage, such as premature aging and skin cancer. In fact, the risk of developing malignant melanoma, one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer, doubles if you experience five or more sunburns.

Although naturally occurring melanin, the pigment that gives color to our skin, eyes, and hair, defends against some sun damage, medical professionals have been searching for new therapies to mitigate the harmful health effects of exposure.

A Burning Question

Researchers at Northwestern University, Kurt Lu, MD, and Nathan Gianneschi, PhD, have discovered one way to do just that, taking inspiration from the body’s first line of defense against ultraviolet (UV) light—melanin. 

Finding Sunburn’s Silver Lining

Lu and Gianneschi have been studying melanin for nearly ten years and recently published an article in the journal npj Regenerative Medicine about how synthetic melanin can promote skin tissue repair.

They began their experiment by creating a topical cream containing synthetic melanin, similar to the body’s natural melanin. Then, they used a chemical to blister human skin tissue samples. This reaction inflamed and separated the upper layers of skin, releasing free radicals, which are the unstable molecules responsible for damaging cells and causing skin aging and cancer. A few hours later, they applied the cream to the blistered tissue samples.

Within the first few days, the cream triggered an immune response that helped the skin’s own free radical-fighting enzymes recover. The cream also stopped the creation of inflammatory proteins, starting a chain of healing responses, including preserving the healthy skin layers underneath the wound. In the control samples without the cream, the blistering continued.

While Lu and Gianneschi continue to determine the best formulation of the synthetic melanin cream, their results strongly point to synthetic melanin preventing and healing skin damage.

New Applications on the Horizon

In addition to sun and environmental skin damage, synthetic melanin cream shows promise as a soothing, therapeutic treatment for burn patients and cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.

Lu and Gianneschi are also participating in research programs funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health to study melanin’s potential as fabric dye that could absorb poisonous toxins like nerve gas to better protect those in the military.

This ongoing research to uncover the applications of synthetic melanin could someday help everyone safely enjoy more days in the sun.