Publications by authors named "V J Hearing"
Current treatment of vitiligo is still a great challenge, since most cases of vitiligo have variable re-pigmentation outcomes due to their unpredictable responses to existing therapeutic regimens. There is an urgent need to identify this re-pigmentation process and to develop novel therapies. This review illustrates the most current research and latest understanding of vitiligo skin re-pigmentation and related regulatory mechanisms.
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- Tyrosinase is crucial for melanin production and a key target for treating hyperpigmentation, but many existing inhibitors are ineffective when using human tyrosinase in studies.
- A high-throughput screening of 50,000 compounds identified Thiamidol as the most effective human tyrosinase inhibitor, showing significant melanin reduction in melanocyte cultures compared to traditional inhibitors like hydroquinone and arbutin.
- Clinical trials indicate that Thiamidol can visibly reduce age spots in as little as 4 weeks, with ongoing studies needed to further establish its potential for treating hyperpigmentation.
Erythema (i.e. visible redness) and DNA damage caused by ultraviolet radiation (UVR) in human skin have similar action spectra and show good correlation after a single exposure to UVR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAge spots, also called solar lentigines and lentigo senilis, are light brown to black pigmented lesions of various sizes that typically develop in chronically sun-exposed skin. It is well known that age spots are strongly related to chronic sun exposure and are associated with photodamage and an increased risk for skin cancer; however, the mechanisms underlying their development remain poorly understood. We used immunohistochemical analysis and microarray analysis to investigate the processes involved in their formation, focusing on specific markers associated with the functions and proliferation of melanocytes and keratinocytes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMore than 375 genes have been identified that are involved in regulating skin pigmentation and these act during development, survival, differentiation, and/or responses of melanocytes to the environment. Many of these genes have been cloned, and disruptions of their functions are associated with various pigmentary diseases; however, many remain to be identified. We have performed a series of microarray analyses of hyperpigmented compared with less pigmented skin to identify genes responsible for these differences.
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