title: Inhibition of neural crest cell differentiation by embryo ectodermal extract.
abstract: The white mutation in Mexican axolotls has long been thought to be a defect associated with the embryonic extracellular environment, but not with embryonic neural crest cells. Thus it was believed that pigment cells in white axolotls disappear from the skin during early development, not because they are intrinsically defective but because they have no choice but to move into an unfavorable environment. We present evidence to suggest that: (1) white neural crest cells are in fact intrinsically different from dark (wild-type) cells, and (2) an inhibitor is produced in white embryonic ectoderm that actively suppresses the migration, differentiation, and survival of pigment cells in this animal. How these observations fit into the existing body of literature on the white mutant and a model for how the white phenotype might develop are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence 66045.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thibaudeau
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Frost-Mason
mesh_terms: D000558:Ambystoma mexicanum; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D004627:Embryonic Induction / Q000502:physiology*; D005374:Filtration; D008543:Melanins / Q000378:metabolism; D009074:Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology; D009154:Mutation; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation; D014020:Tissue Extracts
chemical_list: D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D008543:Melanins; D014020:Tissue Extracts; D009074:Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormones