We detected autoantibodies against melanocytes in serum samples obtained from 50 patients, including 4 with HBV, with vitiligo and identified the associated membrane antigens. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and anti-tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TRP-1) antibody levels were analyzed. The associated antigens in normal human melanocyte were identified by immunofluorescence. Autoantibodies against m...

The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is involved in various cellular activities--including determination, proliferation, migration and differentiation--in embryonic development and adult homeostasis. The deregulation or constitutive activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway may lead to cancer formation. This review focuses on the role of the Wnt/beta-catenin canonical signaling pathway in the melanocy...

The human neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-SH comprises cells that undergo morphological and biochemical interconversion between a primitive sympathoblast and a variant, epithelial-like cell type which does not express the neuronal characteristics of the SK-N-SH cell line. Since neural crest cells, from which neuroblastomas are presumed to arise, can undergo transdifferentiation in culture from a n...

Conditions were established to induce rapid clonal growth of melanocytes from newborn foreskin. Surface antigen expression was analyzed using monoclonal antibodies derived by immunization of mice with melanoma cell, melanocyte, and placental membrane preparations. Unlike resting melanocytes in normal skin, cultured melanocytes expressed most major melanoma-associated antigens tested, e.g., nerv...

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired idiopathic pigmentary skin disorder characterized by sharply demarcated milky white macules with variable size and shape. It has an estimated worldwide incidence of 0.5-4% and occurs in half of the patients before the age of 20 years. Since exact pathogenic mechanism is unknown, several proposed hypotheses are alternation of cellular and humoral immunity, mel...

Epidermal stem cells have become an object of intensive research. The epidermis constitutes one of the main sources of stem cells and is a tissue of choice for use in exploring their biology. Stratified squamous epithelium (epidermis) possesses the capacity for self-renewal and repair due to the presence of epidermal stem cells (ESC). They have been identified within basal layer of the int...

Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation disorder largely caused by defective melanocyte- or autoimmunity-induced melanocyte destruction. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is essential for melanocyte homeostasis and immune process, and abnormal AHR was observed in vitiligo. We previously identified the T allele of AHR -129C > T variant as a protective factor against vitiligo. However, biologica...

Epidermal melanocytes in mammals are known to occur in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. The basic melanocyte morphology is dependent upon genetics, but there are a number of environmental factors that can cause modification. In the epidermis of PET/\vrnr mice, the population of rnelanocytes reaches a peak and begins to decline during the first post-natal week, and has disappeared within ...

During embryogenesis, the transcription factor, Sox10, drives the survival and differentiation of the melanocyte lineage. However, the role that Sox10 plays in postnatal melanocytes is not established. We show in vivo that melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) and more differentiated melanocytes express SOX10 but that McSCs remain undifferentiated. Sox10 knockout (Sox10(fl); Tg(Tyr::CreER)) results in ...

Manipulation of gene expression in melanocytes is an important tool for studying pigment cell biology. We constructed transgenic mice in which Cre recombinase was placed under the control of regulatory elements from the Microphthalmia-associated transcriptional factor (Mitf) gene using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC). Bacterial artificial chromosome that contained either 50 or 108 kb DNA ...