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Development of Melanin-Bearing Pigment Cells in Birds and Mammals

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Pigments, Pigment Cells and Pigment Patterns

Abstract

Melanin-bearing pigment cells in birds and mammals, much as those in other vertebrates, have at least two developmental origins: the neural crest, giving rise to melanocytes of the integument (skin and its appendages) and of inner organs, and the optic neuroepithelium, giving rise to the retinal pigment epithelium and part of the iris. Both types of cells are derived from precursors that are guided towards their differentiation by complex signaling pathways and transcription factors, some common to both cell types and some unique. Numerous studies show that neural crest-derived melanocytes arise from precursors that emanate from the dorsal neural tube and migrate on a dorso-lateral pathway underneath the surface ectoderm. Others arise from poorly defined precursors that migrate on a ventro-medial pathway and also give rise to Schwann cells. Nevertheless, melanocyte precursors retain developmental plasticity for considerable time, potentially being capable of correcting developmental imbalances in an embryo’s distinct cell populations. Some derivatives even exhibit stem cell features during adulthood, capable of replenishing melanocytes during hair and feather cycles. In fact, the study of the development of melanin-bearing pigment cells provides for fascinating insights into how specific cell types arise and maintain themselves or become abnormal or are lost in pathogenic processes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. Ling Hou, Lionel Larue, and Lukas Sommer for critical suggestions and review of the manuscript. The authors’ own work discussed in this paper was supported in part by NINDS, National Institutes of Health, United States, and the Kanton of Zürich, Switzerland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scientist Emeritus, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Heinz Arnheiter

  2. Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Julien Debbache

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  1. Heinz Arnheiter
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  2. Julien Debbache
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

    Hisashi Hashimoto

  2. Preeminent Medical Photonics Education & Research Center, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan

    Makoto Goda

  3. Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Ryo Futahashi

  4. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    Robert Kelsh

  5. Department of Biology, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan

    Toyoko Akiyama

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Arnheiter, H., Debbache, J. (2021). Development of Melanin-Bearing Pigment Cells in Birds and Mammals. In: Hashimoto, H., Goda, M., Futahashi, R., Kelsh, R., Akiyama, T. (eds) Pigments, Pigment Cells and Pigment Patterns. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1490-3_6

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