title: Molecular mechanisms of pigment transport in melanophores.
abstract: We present an overview of the research on intracellular transport in pigment cells, with emphasis on the most recent discoveries. Pigment cells of lower vertebrates have been traditionally used as a model for studies of intracellular transport mechanisms, because these cells transport pigment organelles to the center or to the periphery of the cell in a highly co-ordinated fashion. It is now well established that both aggregation and dispersion of pigment in melanophores require two elements of the cytoskeleton: microtubules and actin filaments. Melanosomes are moved along these cytoskeletal tracks by motor proteins. Recent studies have identified the motors responsible for pigment dispersion and aggregation in melanophores. We propose a model for the possible roles of the two cytoskeletal transport systems and how they might interact. We also discuss the putative mechanisms of regulation of pigment transport, especially phosphorylation. Last, we suggest areas of research that will receive attention in the future in order to elucidate the mechanisms of organelle transport.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Structural Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tuma
authors.forename: V I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Gelfand
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D004398:Dyneins / Q000378:metabolism; D005399:Fishes; D016547:Kinesins; D008547:Melanophores / Q000378:metabolism*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D024701:Myosin Type V; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015388:Organelles / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000378:metabolism*; D014981:Xenopus; D029867:Xenopus Proteins
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010860:Pigments, Biological; C499376:XKLP3 protein, Xenopus; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; C078829:chicken brain myosin-V p190; C074152:kinesin-II; D024701:Myosin Type V; D004398:Dyneins; D016547:Kinesins