Review: melanocyte migration and survival controlled by SCF/c-kit expression.
Melanocytes are derived from neural crest and migrate along the dorsolateral pathway to colonize the final destination in the skin. Stem cell factor and its receptor c-kit were identified as gene products of Sl and W mutant loci; both of them were known to have defects in melanocytes survival. In this review, we focus on the function of stem cell factor and c-kit in melanocyte migration and survival, which has become clearer in the last decade. By analysis of both molecules in wild-type and white spotting mutant mice, ligand and receptor set were shown to play multiple roles in the development of melanocytes in mouse ontogeny. Functional blockade of c-kit by specific monoclonal antibody illustrated distinct c-kit dependent and independent stages in melanocyte development. Finally, SCF transgene expression demonstrated that part of the c-kit dependent step is regulated by spatiotemporally specific ligand expression and also indicated the presence of c-kit independent melanocyte stem cells in postnatal skin.
Yoshida
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Department of Molecular Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan. hyoshida@virus.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Kunisada
T
T
Grimm
T
T
Nishimura
E K
EK
Nishioka
E
E
Nishikawa
S I
SI
D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000502:physiology; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice / Q000196:embryology; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000502:physiology*; D012867:Skin / Q000196:embryology; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000502:physiology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology
D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit