Properties of melanosomes and their exploitation in the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma

Melanosomes are subcellular organelles with unique properties: they are producers and scavengers of cytotoxic quinones and are involved in free radical reactions. They behave as energy absorbing and converting devices, have an ion-exchange capacity and show affinity to a variety of substances. Even in the absence of melanin, premelanosomes show characteristic properties due to the presence of specific proteins. The melanosome concentration in pigment tissues is high enough to offer possibilities for influencing pigment cells and for detecting and/or killing melanoma cells. The exploitation of melanosome properties in practice is reviewed.