Chapter category: Development
Development of Melanocytes from Neural Crest Progenitors
Molecular Basis of Epithelial Appendage Morphogenesis
Edited by: Cheng-Ming ChuongISBN: 1-57059-490-2
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Chapter authors:
Laure Lecoin, Ronit Lahav, Elisabeth Dupin and Nicole Le Douarin
The pigmented cells of the body, the melanocytes, have long been a favored cell type for studies of the genetic and epigenetic factors involved in cell differentiation, partly because pigment makes these cells easily recognizable without any staining, but also because of the astonishing variety of the patterns (spots, zebra, pictures...) due to the distribution of pigment cells in the skin of animals. The fact that pigment cell precursors (melanoblasts) can be successfully transplanted to new tissue environments has made possible experimental analysis of the relative roles of genotype and environment in directing melanocyte differentiation in many different species like amphibians, avians and mice. The wealth of different genotypes affecting coat color in the mouse also enabled the identification of different loci that act either through the cellular environment or within the melanoblasts to influence their development and function. Recently, with advances in the field of molecular biology, the gene products of some loci have been identified. Thus, genetic and environmental influences could be attributed to isolated factors, which in turn enabled a detailed characterization of the nature of these influences in the process of melanocyte differentiation.
The first part of this chapter will summarize the general knowledge about neural crest-derived pigment cell development. The second part will aim to describe how melanoblast distribution is controlled and may account for the pigmentation patterns observed on the skin.
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