| 초록 |
Skin pigmentation occurs in various specialized cells by the synthesis of melanin produced from L-tyrosine through a sequence of chemical reactions. Critical to these reactions is the presence of an enzyme, tyrosinase, which catalyzes the conversion of L-tyrosine to L-dihydroxy- phenylalanine (L-Dopa). By reducing the activity of tyrosinase, skin pigmentation can be reduced and excessive pigmentation prevented. Kojic acid is well known as a tyrosinase inhibitor and used widely as a skin-lightening agent. We modified kojic acid in various ways to give more stable and more powerful inhibitory activities to tyrosinase. |
