Structural Characteristics of Human Substantia Nigra Neuromelanin and Synthetic Dopamine Melanins

Neuromelanin (NM) is a complex polymer pigment foundprimarily in the dopaminergic neurons of the human substantia nigra. Thestructure of NM is only partially characterized, and its synthesis pathwayremains unknown. We used nuclear magnetic and infrared spectroscopy to examinethe structure of human NM isolated from the substantia nigra compared withsynthetic dopamine melanins. Biochemical analyses were used to investigateproteinaceous and dopaminergic components in these samples. Following acidhydrolysis of NM samples, small amounts of DOPA, dopamine, and a variety ofamino acids were measured. These findings suggest a peptide component in NMstructure. NM also appears to contain a variety of unidentified structuralcomponents possibly derived from the oxidation of dopamine. Human NM differsstructurally from synthetic dopamine melanin, but both human and synthetic NMinclude an aromatic backbone. It is interesting that both human NM andsynthetic melanin also contain a large proportion of aliphatic structures. Ourresults suggest that NM is a more complex pigment than synthetic dopaminemelanin formed via dopamine autoxidation alone.