Antony R Young 1997 Phys. Med. Biol. 42 789 doi:10.1088/0031-9155/42/5/004
Antony R Young
Show affiliationsHuman skin, especially the epidermis, contains several major solar ultraviolet-radiation- (UVR-) absorbing endogenous chromophores including DNA, urocanic acid, amino acids, melanins and their precursors and metabolites. The lack of solubility of melanins prevents their absorption spectra being defined by routine techniques. Indirect spectroscopic methods show that their spectral properties depend on the stimulus for melanogenesis. The photochemical consequences of UVR absorption by some epidermal chromophores are relatively well understood whereas we lack a detailed understanding of the consequent photobiological and clinical responses. Skin action spectroscopy is not a reliable way of relating a photobiological outcome to a specific chromophore but is important for UVR hazard assessment. Exogenous chromophores may be administered to the skin in combination with UVR exposure for therapeutic benefit, or as sunscreens for the prevention of sunburn and possibly skin cancer.
87.53.-j Effects of ionizing radiation on biological systems
Issue 5 (May 1997)
Received 16 May 1996
Antony R Young 1997 Phys. Med. Biol. 42 789
Andrew P Horsfield et al 2004 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 16 L65
P. Español and P. Warren 1995 Europhys. Lett. 30 191
C. S. Kochanek et al. 2003 ApJ 585 161
Nick Seymour et al. 2007 ApJS 171 353
Jian Ge et al 2001 ApJ 547 L1
M Boutillon 1998 Phys. Med. Biol. 43 2061
J. C. Mather et al. 1999 ApJ 512 511
Jennifer Wiseman et al 2001 ApJ 550 L87
Tommaso Treu and Léon V. E. Koopmans 2004 ApJ 611 739