Neural Crest - Melanocyte Development

Notice - Mark Hill

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Introduction

Melanocytes provide the pigment melanin to keratinocytes in the skin epithelium. These cells are neural crest in origin and recent research suggests that they are derived from the same population that Schwann cells are derived.

Schwann cells wrap around nerve axon processes outside of the central nervous system. These cells in development originate from neural crest cells migrating out along the developing nerve fibers and these cells differentiate to form myelin sheaths that surround the mature nerve.

The cells are named after their original discoverer a German physiologist Theodor Schwann (1810 - 1882).

Some Recent Findings

Generation of human melanocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells "We generated iPS cell lines from human dermal fibroblasts using the Yamanaka factors (SOX2, OCT3/4, and KLF4, with or without c-MYC). These iPS cell lines were subsequently used to form embryoid bodies (EBs) and then differentiated into melanocytes via culture supplementation with Wnt3a, SCF, and ET-3. Seven weeks after inducing differentiation, pigmented cells expressing melanocyte markers such as MITF, tyrosinase, SILV, and TYRP1, were detected. Melanosomes were identified in these pigmented cells by electron microscopy, and global gene expression profiling of the pigmented cells showed a high similarity to that of human primary foreskin-derived melanocytes" Schwann cell precursors from nerve innervation are a cellular origin of melanocytes in skin"Current opinion holds that pigment cells, melanocytes, are derived from neural crest cells produced at the dorsal neural tube and that migrate under the epidermis to populate all parts of the skin. Here, we identify growing nerves projecting throughout the body as a stem/progenitor niche containing Schwann cell precursors (SCPs) from which large numbers of skin melanocytes originate. SCPs arise as a result of lack of neuronal specification by Hmx1 homeobox gene function in the neural crest ventral migratory pathway. Schwann cell and melanocyte development share signaling molecules with both the glial and melanocyte cell fates intimately linked to nerve contact and regulated in an opposing manner by Neuregulin and soluble signals including insulin-like growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor. These results reveal SCPs as a cellular origin of melanocytes, and have broad implications on the molecular mechanisms regulating skin pigmentation during development, in health and pigmentation disorders." Neural crest origin of olfactory ensheathing glia "Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are a unique class of glial cells with exceptional translational potential because of their ability to support axon regeneration in the central nervous system. Although OECs are similar in many ways to immature and nonmyelinating Schwann cells, and can myelinate large-diameter axons indistinguishably from myelination by Schwann cells, current dogma holds that OECs arise from the olfactory epithelium. Here, using fate-mapping techniques in chicken embryos and genetic lineage tracing in mice, we show that OECs in fact originate from the neural crest and hence share a common developmental heritage with Schwann cells."

Mouse Skin Melanocytes

Mouse melanocyte migration	Movie Mouse Skin - Melanoblast Migration E14.5 Quicktime | Flash

References

Reviews

<pubmed>20444197</pubmed> <pubmed>20211169</pubmed> <pubmed>18935965</pubmed>

Articles

<pubmed>20848220</pubmed> <pubmed>18703590</pubmed> <pubmed>16899407</pubmed>

Search PubMed

Search Dec 2010 "Melanocyte Development" All (2294) Review (443) Free Full Text (704)

Search Pubmed: Melanocyte Development

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Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, June 17) Embryology Neural Crest - Melanocyte Development. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Neural_Crest_-_Melanocyte_Development

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© Dr Mark Hill 2024, UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4 - UNSW CRICOS Provider Code No. 00098G