Although melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) peptides are known to stimulate pigmentation in man, previous reports suggest that human melanocytes are relatively unresponsive to these peptides in vitro. This may be related to the conditions under which the melanocytes were cultured. Thus, we have re-investigated the in vitro effects of MSH peptides using human melanocytes cultured in the absenc...

main transcription factors, Sox10 and Mifta (microphthalmiaassociated transcription factor), are already known to be involved in this process [Dutton et al., 2001; Elworthy et al., 2003]. Fate specification of melanocytes depends upon Sox10, and on Wnt signalling, to mediate regulation of Mitfa transcription. In contrast, the precise mechanism resulting in stable melanocyte differentiation rema...

Semaphorins are secreted and membrane-bound proteins involved in neural pathfinding, organogenesis, and tumor progression, through Plexin and neuropilin receptors. We recently reported that Plexin B1, the Semaphorin 4D (Sema4D) receptor, is a tumor-suppressor protein for melanoma, which functions, in part, through inhibition of the oncogenic c-Met tyrosine kinase receptor. In this report, we sh...

A cut was made on the middorsal skin of newborn mice of strains C57BL/10J, C57BL/10J-A/A, and C3H/He using fine iridectomy scissors. In the epidermis within 1 mm of the wound edge in C57BL/10J and C57BL/10J-A/A, the melanocyte population positive to the dopa reaction as well as the melanoblast-melanocyte population positive to the combined dopa-premelanin reaction increased dramatically until t...

Hair graying, an age-associated process of unknown etiology, is characterized by a reduced number and activity of hair follicle (HF) melanocytes. Stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor c-kit are important for melanocyte survival during development, and mutations in these genes result in unpigmented hairs. Here we show that during cyclic HF regeneration in C57BL/6 mice, proliferating, different...

Unlike the thoroughly investigated melanocyte population in the hair follicle of the epidermis, the growth and differentiation requirements of the melanocytes in the eye, harderian gland and inner ear - the so-called non-cutaneous melanocytes - remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo effects of the factors that regulate melanocyte development on the stem cells or...

main transcription factors, Sox10 and Mifta (microphthalmiaassociated transcription factor), are already known to be involved in this process [Dutton et al., 2001; Elworthy et al., 2003]. Fate specification of melanocytes depends upon Sox10, and on Wnt signalling, to mediate regulation of Mitfa transcription. In contrast, the precise mechanism resulting in stable melanocyte differentiation rema...

The immune system can recognize differentiation antigens that are selectively expressed on malignant cells and their normal cell counterparts. However, it is uncertain whether immunity to differentiation antigens can effectively lead to tumor rejection. The mouse brown locus protein, gp75 or tyrosinase-related protein 1, is a melanocyte differentiation antigen expressed by melanomas and normal ...

SOX10 is required for melanocyte development and maintenance, and has been linked to melanoma initiation and progression. However, the molecular mechanisms by which SOX10 guides the appropriate gene expression programs necessary to promote the melanocyte lineage are not fully understood. Here we employ genetic and epigenomic analysis approaches to uncover novel genomic targets and previously un...

INTRODUCTION Many neural and non-neural cell types in vertebrates are produced by the neural crest, a transient embryonic structure that emerges during neurulation in the dorsal part of the neural tube (Le Douarin et al., 2008). Among the neural crest derivatives are the pigment cells in the skin that are reported to originate either directly from neural crest cells migrating from the neural tu...