Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jul 28;22(15):8071.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22158071.

Role of Amine Neurotransmitters and Their Receptors in Skin Pigmentation: Therapeutic Implication

Enkhmend Enkhtaivan  1 , Chang Hoon Lee  1
Affiliations
Review

Role of Amine Neurotransmitters and Their Receptors in Skin Pigmentation: Therapeutic Implication

Enkhmend Enkhtaivan et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Skin pigmentation can occur due to increased melanin, including melanocyte proliferation, melanin biosynthesis, or melanocyte migration. There are many factors that influence the melanin production process, but the role of neurotransmitters in this process is still unclear. We found that histamine and serotonin influence the different stages of melanogenesis and melanogenesis, which increase melanogenesis. Since then, several related papers have been published, and from these papers, it has been recognised that the role of neurotransmitters in skin-pigment-related diseases needs to be summarised. By introducing the role of neurotransmitters in the regulation of various pigment disorders, including vitiligo and melasma, through this review, many researchers can be expected to try to apply neurotransmitter-related agonists and antagonists as treatments for skin pigment disorders.

Keywords: acetylcholine; dopamine; histamime; melanogenesis; serotonin; skin pigment abnormality; vitiligo.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biosynthesis of melanin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Amine neurotransmitters.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Receptors of amine neurotransmitters.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Chemical structures of agonist (red), antagonist (blue), and enzyme inhibitors or others (purple) related to DA neurotransmitters.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Chemical structures of agonist (red), antagonist (blue), and enzyme inhibitors or others (purple) related to GABA, glutamate neurotransmitters.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Chemical structures of agonist (red), and antagonist (blue) of histamine.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Chemical structures of agonist (red), antagonist (blue), and enzyme inhibitors or others (purple) related to serotonin neurotransmitters.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Chemical structures of compounds inducing (black) or inhibiting (green) melanogenesis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chuong C.-M., Nickoloff B., Elias P., Goldsmith L., Macher E., Maderson P., Sundberg J., Tagami H., Plonka P., Thestrup-Pederson K. What is the ‘true’ function of skin? Exp. Dermatol. 2002;11:159–187. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Slominski A., Fischer T.W., Zmijewski M.A., Wortsman J., Semak I., Zbytek B., Slominski R.M., Tobin D.J. On the role of melatonin in skin physiology and pathology. Endocrine. 2005;27:137–147. doi: 10.1385/ENDO:27:2:137. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jevtić M., Löwa A., Nováčková A., Kováčik A., Kaessmeyer S., Erdmann G., Vávrová K., Hedtrich S. Impact of intercellular crosstalk between epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts on skin homeostasis. Biochim. Biophys. Acta (BBA)-Mol. Cell Res. 2020;1867:118722. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2020.118722. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yamaguchi Y., Brenner M., Hearing V.J. The regulation of skin pigmentation. J. Biol. Chem. 2007;282:27557–27561. doi: 10.1074/jbc.R700026200. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Slominski A., Tobin D.J., Zmijewski M.A., Wortsman J., Paus R. Melatonin in the skin: Synthesis, metabolism and functions. Trends Endocrinol. Metab. 2008;19:17–24. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2007.10.007. - DOI - PubMed