After you get sunburned, your skin temporarily stops making tan pigment because a protein called ATM redirects another protein (MITF) to fix DNA damage instead of making color.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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ATM signaling delays skin pigmentation upon UV exposure by mediating MITF function towards DNA repair mode.

Computational/Algorithm Study

Human

2023 Dec

After sun exposure, a protein called ATM tells another protein, MITF, to stop making skin pigment and instead help fix sun-damaged DNA — so your skin gets darker more slowly to protect itself.

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No contradicting evidence found

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Source Study

ATM signaling delays skin pigmentation upon UV exposure by mediating MITF function towards DNA repair mode.

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2023.03.1686

Similar Assertions

After sun exposure, a chemical tag (phosphate) is added to a protein called MITF, making it stop making pigment and instead team up with other proteins to fix DNA damage.

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85%

If you block the ATM protein in skin, the skin tans more after sun exposure because it can’t pause pigment production to fix DNA damage.

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84%

Large DNA deletions in skin that never gets sunburned are linked to past sun exposure—likely because UV light breaks DNA strands, and the cell’s repair job often messes up, deleting big chunks.

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34

72%