Piebaldism: rare but all dermatologists have heard this strange term during residency
- Dr Bruno Bloch (1878-1933) was a Swiss dermatologist who created the dermatology department in Zurich.
- He described incontinentia pigment with the US Dermatologist, Dr Marion Sulzberger
- But he made his most valuable contribution in pigment research.
- Indeed he discovered that the synthesis of melanin was due to the action of an enzyme on the amino acid dihydroxyphenylalanine – he named the enzyme DOPA oxidase.
- Dr Aaron Burner Lerner and Thomas B. Fitzpatrick then named the enzyme tyrosinase:
- DOPA (diydroxyphenilalanine) was in fact the amino acid tyrosine
- DOPA oxidase was in fact tyrosinase
Contributors
Dr Christophe Hsu – dermatologist. Geneva, Switzerland
Source of information:
-Crissey JT el al. Dermatology and Dermatologists (2002). Parthenon Publishing
Related posts