The transcription network regulating melanocyte development and melanoma.
The enormous variety of pigmentation phenotypes in nature reflects a series of remarkable events that begin in the neural crest and end with the manufacture and distribution of pigment by mature melanocytes located in the epidermis and hair follicles. While the origins of melanoblasts from multipotent precursors in the neural crest is striking in itself, yet more so is the fact that these pioneer melanoblasts manage to undertake and survive their long migration, and in doing so proliferate and maintain their identity before ultimately arriving at their destination and undergoing differentiation. With the application of the powerful combination of genetics and molecular and cell biology the mystery surrounding the genesis of the melanocyte lineage is slowly being unravelled. At its heart is the powerful alliance between signal transduction and transcription that coordinates the program of gene expression that confers on a cell its identity, provides its passport for migration, and instructs it in the arts of survival and timely reproduction. The realization that the proliferation and migration of melanoblasts during development resembles closely the proliferation and metastasis of melanoma, a highly dangerous and increasingly common cancer, serves to highlight the value of the melanocyte system as a model for addressing key issues of general significance in both development and cancer.
Vance
Keith W
KW
Signalling and Development Laboratory, Marie Curie Research Institute, The Chart, Oxted, Surrey, UK.
Goding
Colin R
CR
D001483:Base Sequence; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics*; D051739:Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D050809:POU Domain Factors; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C497234:MITF protein, human; D051739:Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor; D050809:POU Domain Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C085076:transcription factor Brn-2