Dual origin of melanocytes defined by Sox1 expression and their region-specific distribution in mammalian skin.
Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells generated from neural crest cells (NCCs) that delaminate from the dorsal neural tube. The widely accepted premise that NCCs migrating along the dorsolateral pathway are the main source of melanocytes in the skin was recently challenged by the finding that Schwann cell precursors are the major cellular source of melanocytes in the skin. Still, in a wide variety of vertebrate embryos, melanocytes are exclusively derived from NCCs. In this study, we show that a NCC population that is not derived from Sox1(+)  dorsal neuroepithelial cells but are derived from Sox1(-)  cells differentiate into a significant population of melanocytes in the skin of mice. Later, these Sox1(-)  cells clearly segregate from cells that originated from Sox1(+)  dorsal neuroepithelial cell-derived NCCs. The possible derivation of Sox1(-)  cells from epidermal cells also strengthens their non-neuroepithelial origin.
Department of Tissue and Organ Development, Regeneration and Advanced Medical Science, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, 501-1194, Gifu, Japan.
Naoko
N
Yoshimura
Tsutomu
T
Motohashi
Hitomi
H
Aoki
Ken-ichi
K
Tezuka
Natsuki
N
Watanabe
Takanori
T
Wakaoka
Takumi
T
Era
Takahiro
T
Kunisada
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D004817:Epidermis / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D046569:Neuroepithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*
D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; C098693:Sox1 protein, mouse