Tyrosinase-related protein 1, also known as TYRP1, is an enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 which in humans is encoded by the TYRP1 gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

Tyrp1 is a melanocyte

Melanocyte

-External links: - "Eye: fovea, RPE" - "Integument: pigmented skin"...

-specific gene product involved in melanin

Melanin

Melanin is a pigment that is ubiquitous in nature, being found in most organisms . In animals melanin pigments are derivatives of the amino acid tyrosine. The most common form of biological melanin is eumelanin, a brown-black polymer of dihydroxyindole carboxylic acids, and their reduced forms...

 synthesis. Mouse Tyrp1 possesses dihydroxyindole carboxylic acid oxidase activity, The function in human melanocytes is less clear. In addition to its role in melanin synthesis, Tyrp1 is involved in stabilizing of tyrosinase

Tyrosinase

Tyrosinase also known as monophenol monooxygenase is an enzyme that catalyses the oxidation of phenols and is widespread in plants and animals...

 protein and modulating its catalytic activity.