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Dormancy of metastatic melanomaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Metastatic dormancy of melanoma has not received sufficient attention, most likely because once detectable, metastasis is almost invariably fatal and, understandably, the focus has been on finding ways to prolong life of patients with overt recurrences. Nevertheless, analysis of the published clinical and experimental data on melanoma indicates that some aspect of melanoma biology imitate traits recently associated with dormancy in other solid cancers. Among them the ability of some melanomas to disseminate early during primary tumor progression and once disseminated, to remain undetected (dormant) for years. Comparison of...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - November 11, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Liliana Ossowski, Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso Source Type: journals

AKT2 is a downstream target of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (Grm1)Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We reported earlier on the oncogenic properties of Grm1 by demonstrating that stable Grm1-mouse-melanocytic clones proliferate in the absence of growth supplement and anchorage in vitro. In addition, these clones also exhibit aggressive tumorigenic phenotypes in vivo with short latency in tumor formation in both immunodeficient and syngeneic mice. We also detected strong activation of AKT in allograft tumors specifically AKT2 as the predominant isoform involved. In parallel, we assessed several human melanoma biopsy samples and found again that AKT2 was the predominantly activated AKT in these human melanoma biopsies. In c...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - November 9, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Seung-Shick Shin, Brian A. Wall, James S. Goydos, Suzie Chen Source Type: journals

Melanin precursors prevent premature age-related and noise-induced hearing loss in albino miceEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Strial melanocytes are required for normal development and correct functioning of the cochlea. Hearing deficits have been reported in albino individuals from different species, although melanin appears to be not essential for normal auditory function. We have analyzed the auditory brainstem responses (ABR) of two transgenic mice: YRT2, carrying the entire mouse tyrosinase (Tyr) gene expression-domain and undistinguishable from wild-type pigmented animals; and TyrTH, non-pigmented but ectopically expressing tyrosine hydroxylase (Th) in melanocytes, which generate the precursor metabolite, L-DOPA, but not melanin. We show th...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - November 6, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Silvia Murillo-Cuesta, Julio Contreras, Esther Zurita, Rafael Cediel, Marta Cantero, Isabel Varela-Nieto, Lluís Montoliu Source Type: journals

Moesin/ezrin: a specific role in cell metastasis?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - November 4, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Dominique Lallemand, Monique Arpin Source Type: journals

TYRO3-mediated regulation of MITF: a novel target in melanoma?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - October 30, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Udo Rudloff, Yardena Samuels Source Type: journals

Enhancement of DNA repair using topical T4 endonuclease V does not inhibit melanoma formation in Cdk4R24C/R24C/Tyr-NrasQ61K mice following neonatal UVREmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
To further investigate the use of DNA repair-enhancing agents for skin cancer prevention, we treated Cdk4R24C/R24C/NrasQ61K mice topically with the T4 endonuclease V DNA repair enzyme (known as Dimericine) immediately prior to neonatal ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure, which has a powerful effect in exacerbating melanoma development in the mouse model. Dimericine has been shown to reduce the incidence of basal-cell and squamous cell carcinoma. Unexpectedly, we saw no difference in penetrance or age of onset of melanoma after neonatal UVR between Dimericine-treated and control animals, although the drug reduced DNA dama...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - October 27, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Elke Hacker, H. Konrad Muller, Nicholas Hayward, Paul Fahey, Graeme Walker Source Type: journals

The Wellcome Trust Functional Genomics Cell Bank: holdingsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - October 20, 2009 Category: Cytology Source Type: journals

Androgen, estrogen and progesterone receptors in acquired bilateral nevus of Ota-like maculesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - October 15, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Ting-feng Long, Liu Liu, Li He, Li-da Shen, Hua Gu, Zhi Yang, Ying Tu, Rui-hong Ruan, Yin Liu Source Type: journals

Molecular pathogenesis of malignant melanoma: a different perspective from the studies of melanocytic nevus and acral melanomaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Clark model for melanoma progression emphasizes a series of histopathological changes beginning from benign melanocytic nevus to melanoma via dysplastic nevus. Several models of the genetic basis of melanoma development and progression are based on this Clark's multi-step model, and predict that the acquisition of a BRAF mutation can be a founder event in melanocytic neoplasia. However, our recent investigations have challenged this view, showing the polyclonality of BRAF mutations in melanocytic nevi. Furthermore, it is suggested that many melanomas, including acral and mucosal melanomas, arise de novo, not from melan...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - October 14, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Minoru Takata, Hiroshi Murata, Toshiaki Saida Source Type: journals

New insights into the active site structure and catalytic mechanism of tyrosinase and its related proteinsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Tyrosinases are widely distributed in nature. They are copper-containing oxidases belonging to the type 3 copper protein family, together with catechol oxidases and haemocyanins. Tyrosinases are essential enzymes in melanin biosynthesis and therefore responsible for pigmentation of skin and hair in mammals, where two more enzymes, the tyrosinase-related proteins (Tyrps), participate in the pathway. The structure and catalytic mechanism of mammalian tyrosinases have been extensively studied but they are not completely understood because of the lack of information on the tertiary structure. The availability of crystallograph...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 30, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Concepcion Olivares, Francisco Solano Source Type: journals

Melanocyte and RPE-specific expression in transgenic mice by mouse MART-1/Melan-A/mlana regulatory sequencesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 29, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Iraz T. Aydin, Friedrich Beermann Source Type: journals

Keratinocytes in culture accumulate phagocytosed melanosomes in the perinuclear areaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
There are many techniques for evaluating melanosome transfer to keratinocytes but the spectrophotometric quantification of melanosomes incorporated by keratinocyte phagocytosis has not been previously reported. Here we describe a new method that allows the spectrophotometric visualization of melanosome uptake by normal human keratinocytes in culture. Fontana-Masson staining of keratinocytes incubated with isolated melanosomes showed the accumulation of incorporated melanosomes in the perinuclear areas of keratinocytes within 48 h. Electron microscopic observations of melanosomes ingested by keratinocytes revealed that many...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 28, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Hideya Ando, Yoko Niki, Masaki Yoshida, Masaaki Ito, Kaoru Akiyama, Jin-Hwa Kim, Tae-Jin Yoon, Jeung-Hoon Lee, Mary S. Matsui, Masamitsu Ichihashi Source Type: journals

Double stranded RNA tricks melanoma cells into committing suicideEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 24, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Romina S. Goldszmid, Uzma A. Hasan, Giorgio Trinchieri Source Type: journals

Inhibition of Siah2 ubiquitin ligase by vitamin K3 (menadione) attenuates hypoxia and MAPK signaling and blocks melanoma tumorigenesisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The E3 ubiquitin ligase Siah2 has been implicated in the regulation of the hypoxia response, as well as in the control of Ras, JNK/p38/NF-[kappa]B signaling pathways. Both Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and hypoxia pathways are important for melanoma development and progression, pointing to the possible use of Siah2 as target for treatment of this tumor type. In the present study, we have established a high-throughput electro-chemiluninescent-based assay in order to screen and identify inhibitors of Siah2 ubiquitin ligase activity. Of 1840 compounds screened, we identified and characterized menadione (MEN) as ...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 22, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Meera Shah, John L. Stebbins, Antimone Dewing, Jianfei Qi, Maurizio Pellecchia, Ze'ev A. Ronai Source Type: journals

Involvement of ABC transporters in melanogenesis and the development of multidrug resistance of melanomaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Because melanomas are intrinsically resistant to conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy, many alternative treatment approaches have been developed such as biochemotherapy and immunotherapy. The most common cause of multidrug resistance (MDR) in human cancers is the expression and function of one or more ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters that efflux anticancer drugs from cells. Melanoma cells express a group of ABC transporters (such as ABCA9, ABCB1, ABCB5, ABCB8, ABCC1, ABCC2, and ABCD1) that may be associated with the resistance of melanoma cells to a broad range of anticancer drugs and/or of melanocytes to toxi...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 16, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Kevin G. Chen, Julio C. Valencia, Jean-Pierre Gillet, Vincent J. Hearing, Michael M. Gottesman Source Type: journals

Mutated ERBB4: a novel drug target in metastatic melanoma?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 15, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Kari Kurppa, Klaus Elenius Source Type: journals

Hear the Wnt Ror: how melanoma cells adjust to changes in WntEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The interplay between canonical and non-canonical Wnt pathways in development and tumorigenesis is tightly regulated. In this review we will describe the yin and the yang of canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways during melanocyte development, and melanoma genesis. Canonical Wnt signaling, represented by Wnts such as Wnt1 and Wnt3A, signals via [beta]-catenin to promote melanocyte differentiation and tumor development. Non-canonical Wnt signaling, specifically Wnt5A, regulates canonical pathways, and signals to induce melanoma metastasis. This review will focus on the role of Wnt5A during melanoma progression, ...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 8, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Michael P. O'Connell, Ashani T. Weeraratna Source Type: journals

Identification of direct transcriptional targets of V600EBRAF/MEK signalling in melanomaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study provides a basis for understanding the molecular processes that are regulated by V600EBRAF/MEK signalling in melanoma cells. (Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 7, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Leisl M Packer, Philip East, Jorge S Reis-Filho, Richard Marais Source Type: journals

Recent advances and hurdles in melanoma immunotherapyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Worldwide incidence of malignant melanoma has been constantly increasing during the last years. Surgical excision is effective when primary tumours are thin. At later disease stages patients often succumb, due to failure of metastasis control. Therefore, great efforts have been made to develop improved strategies to treat metastatic melanoma patients. In the search for novel treatments during the last two decades, immunotherapy has occupied a prominent place. Numerous early phase immunotherapy clinical trials, generally involving small numbers of patients each time, have been reported: significant tumour-specific immune re...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 6, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Camilla Jandus, Daniel Speiser, Pedro Romero Source Type: journals

Protein nitration is specifically associated with melanin production and reveals redox imbalance as a new correlate of cell maturation in the ink gland of Sepia officinalisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 2, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Gabriella Fiore, Teresa Mattiello, Gabriella Tedeschi, Simona Nonnis, Marco d'Ischia, Anna Palumbo Source Type: journals

Classic versus non-classic: A survival Kit for life in the skinEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 2, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Shigeyuki Uehara, Akiha Kawasaki, Hiroaki Yamamoto Source Type: journals

Functional role of MITF phosphorylation. In vivo veritas?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - September 1, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Corine Bertolotto, Robert Ballotti Source Type: journals

Unique transforming properties of Notch1 in human melanocytesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 25, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Barbara Bedogni, Marianne Broome Powell Source Type: journals

Twenty-two cutaneous primary melanomas in a patient with high genetic predisposition to melanoma receiving levodopa therapy for Parkinson's diseaseEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 25, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Julie Charles, Isabelle Templier, Dominique Leroux, Dimitri Salameire, Caroline Robert, Sylvie Lantuejoul, Marie-Therese Leccia Source Type: journals

Independent regulation of hair and skin color by two G protein-coupled pathwaysEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Hair color and skin color are frequently coordinated in mammalian species. To explore this, we have studied mutations in two different G protein coupled pathways, each of which affects the darkness of both hair and skin color. In each mouse mutant (GnaqDsk1, Gna11Dsk7, and Mc1re), we analyzed the melanocyte density and the concentrations of eumelanin (black pigment) and pheomelanin (yellow pigment) in the hair or skin to determine the mechanisms regulating pigmentation. Surprisingly, we discovered that each mutation affects hair and skin color differently. Furthermore, we have found that in the epidermis, the melanocortin ...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 24, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Catherine D. Van Raamsdonk, Gregory S. Barsh, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Shosuke Ito Source Type: journals

Current challenges in understanding melanogenesis: bridging chemistry, biological control, morphology, and functionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Melanin is a natural pigment produced within organelles, melanosomes, located in melanocytes. Biological functions of melanosomes are often attributed to the unique chemical properties of the melanins they contain; however, the molecular structure of melanins, the mechanism by which the pigment is produced, and how the pigment is organized within the melanosome remains to be fully understood. In this review, we examine the current understanding of the initial chemical steps in the melanogenesis. Most natural melanins are mixtures of eumelanin and pheomelanin, and so after presenting the current understanding of the individ...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 20, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: John D Simon, Dana Peles, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Shosuke Ito Source Type: journals

Carney complex and lentiginosisEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Initially described as the 'complex of myxomas, spotty skin pigmentation and endocrine overactivity,' Carney complex (CNC) is known as an autosomal dominant multiple neoplasia syndrome involving skin and cardiac myxomas, pigmented skin lesions and endocrine tumors. Pigmented cutaneous manifestations in CNC are important diagnostically because they can be used for the early detection of the disease and, thus, the prevention of life-threatening complications of CNC related to heart myxomas and endocrine abnormalities. Specific for the disease skin lesions are present in more than half of the CNC patients. A major challenge i...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 19, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Anelia Horvath, Constantine A. Stratakis Source Type: journals

Pigmentary function and evolution of tyrp1 gene duplicates in fishEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The function of the tyrosinase-related protein 1 (Tyrp1) has not yet been investigated in vertebrates basal to tetrapods. Teleost fishes have two duplicates of the tyrp1 gene. Here, we show that the teleost tyrp1 duplicates have distributed the ancestral gene expression in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and melanophores in a species-specific manner. In medaka embryos, tyrp1a expression is found in the RPE and in melanophores while tyrp1b is only expressed in melanophores. In zebrafish embryos, expression of tyrp1 paralogs overlaps in the RPE and in melanophores. Knockdown of each zebrafish tyrp1 duplicate alone does ...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 13, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Ingo Braasch, Daniel Liedtke, Jean-Nicolas Volff, Manfred Schartl Source Type: journals

miR(acle)s – new players in the regulation of known suspectsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 10, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Daniel W. Müller, Anja K. Bosserhoff Source Type: journals

Stem cell factor rescues tyrosinase expression and pigmentation in discreet anatomic locations in albino miceEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The K14-SCF transgenic murine model of variant pigmentation is based on epidermal expression of stem cell factor (SCF) on the C57BL/6J background. In this system, constitutive expression of SCF by epidermal keratinocytes results in retention of melanocytes in the interfollicular basal layer and pigmentation of the epidermis itself. Here, we extend this animal model by developing a compound mutant transgenic amelanotic animal defective at both the melanocortin 1 receptor (Mc1r) and tyrosinase (Tyr) loci. In the presence of K14-Scf, tyrosinase-mutant animals (previously thought incapable of synthesizing melanin) exhibited pr...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 3, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Jillian C Vanover, Malinda L Spry, Laura Hamilton, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Shosuke Ito, John A D'Orazio Source Type: journals

F-box proteins FBXO31 and FBX4 in regulation of cyclin D1 degradation upon DNA damageEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 3, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Lijun Jia, Yi Sun Source Type: journals

Preclinical and clinical development of targeted therapy in melanoma: attention to scheduleEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - August 2, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Keith T. Flaherty, Keiran S. M. Smalley Source Type: journals

NRG1 / ERBB3 signaling in melanocyte development and melanoma: inhibition of differentiation and promotion of proliferationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Neuregulin (NRG) signaling through the receptor tyrosine kinase, ERBB3, is required for embryonic development, and dysregulated signaling has been associated with cancer progression. Here, we show that NRG1/ERBB3 signaling inhibits melanocyte (MC) maturation and promotes undifferentiated, migratory and proliferative cellular characteristics. Embryonic analyses demonstrated that initial MC specification and distribution were not dependent on ERBB3 signaling. However NRG1/ERBB3 signaling was both necessary and sufficient to inhibit differentiation of later stages of MC development in culture. Analysis of tissue arrays of hum...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 29, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Kristina Buac, Mai Xu, Julie Cronin, Ashani T. Weeraratna, Stephen M. Hewitt, William J. Pavan Source Type: journals

Meeting report: consensus from the first and second Global Workshops in Melanoma November 19–20, 2008Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This overview of the current state of melanoma research and treatment and directions for moving forward represents the consensus of discussions between expert panelists at the First and Second Global Workshops on Melanoma held in Fajardo, Peurto Rico on November 30[ndash]December 1, 2007 and Clearwater Beach, Florida on November 19[ndash]20, 2008. (Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 29, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Sanjiv S. Agarwala, Jurgen C. Becker, Alexander M. Eggermont, Keith T. Flaherty, Claus Garbe, Alisa M. Goldstein, Allan Halpern, Mohammed Kashani-Sabet, Axel Hauschild, John M. Kirkwood, Sancy Leachman, Paul Lorigan, Martin McMahon, Jane Messina, Antoni R Source Type: journals

α-MSH activates immediate defense responses to UV-induced oxidative stress in human melanocytesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study provides unequivocal evidence for induction of oxidative DNA damage by UV in human melanocytes and reduction of this damage by [alpha]-MSH. Our data unravel some mechanisms by which [alpha]-MSH protects melanocytes from oxidative DNA damage, which partially explain the strong association of loss-of-function MC1R with melanoma. (Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 28, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Xiuzu Song, Nicole Mosby, Jennifer Yang, Aie Xu, Zalfa Abdel-Malek, Ana Luisa Kadekaro Source Type: journals

SKI knockdown inhibits human melanoma tumor growth in vivoEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The SKI protein represses the TGF-[beta] tumor suppressor pathway by associating with the Smad transcription factors. SKI is upregulated in human malignant melanoma tumors in a disease-progression manner and its overexpression promotes proliferation and migration of melanoma cells in vitro. The mechanisms by which SKI antagonizes TGF-[beta] signaling in vivo have not been fully elucidated. Here we show that human melanoma cells in which endogenous SKI expression was knocked down by RNAi produced minimal orthotopic tumor xenograft nodules that displayed low mitotic rate and prominent apoptosis. These minute tumors exhibited...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 27, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Dahu Chen, Qiushi Lin, Neil Box, Dennis Roop, Shunsuke Ishii, Koichi Matsuzaki, Tao Fan, Thomas J. Hornyak, Jon A Reed, Ed Stavnezer, Nikolai A. Timchenko, Estela E. Medrano Source Type: journals

Gray zone prompting new imaginationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 20, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Shinichi Nishikawa Source Type: journals

Antibodies specific to melanocyte-specific proteins available from the Hearing LaboratoryEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 16, 2009 Category: Cytology Source Type: journals

Complexities of cuticular pigmentation in insectsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 14, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Manickam Sugumaran Source Type: journals

GeneSifter, not so blind after allEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 13, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: N. Eric Olson, Jeff Kozlowski, Sandra Porter, Todd Smith Source Type: journals

Public health issues arising from sale of illegal and potentially unsafe 'tanning chemicals'Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 9, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Veronique del Marmol, Thomas Luger, Norbert J. Neumann, Jean-Paul Ortonne Source Type: journals

Genetics of human iris colour and patternsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The presence of melanin pigment within the iris is responsible for the visual impression of human eye colouration with complex patterns also evident in this tissue, including Fuchs' crypts, nevi, Wolfflin nodules and contraction furrows. The genetic basis underlying the determination and inheritance of these traits has been the subject of debate and research from the very beginning of quantitative trait studies in humans. Although segregation of blue-brown eye colour has been described using a simple Mendelian dominant-recessive gene model this is too simplistic, and a new molecular genetic perspective is needed to fully u...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 7, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Richard A. Sturm, Mats Larsson Source Type: journals

Secrets to developing Wnt-age melanoma revealedEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - July 6, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Lionel Larue, Véronique Delmas Source Type: journals

Laminin-421 produced by lymphatic endothelial cells induces chemotaxis for human melanoma cellsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We examined influence of interactions between normal lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) and melanoma cells on cell migration. Medium conditioned with LEC (LEC-CM) contained chemotactic and chemokinetic activities for human melanoma cell lines. The chemotactic activity was fractionated in more than 100 kDa, and inactivated by heat-treatment. The chemotactic activity of LEC-CM was abolished by immunodepletion with anti-laminin-1 antibody. And immunoprecipitation and Western blot analyses revealed that LEC-CM contained laminin-421. When melanoma C8161 cells were treated with function-blocking antibodies to integrin [alpha]3 o...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - June 29, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Noriko Saito, Jun-ichi Hamada, Hiroshi Furukawa, Arata Tsutsumida, Akihiko Oyama, Emi Funayama, Akira Saito, Tsutomu Tsuji, Mitsuhiro Tada, Tetsuya Moriuchi, Yuhei Yamamoto Source Type: journals

Mysteries of salt and pepperEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - June 25, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Bhushan Sarode, Friedrich Beermann Source Type: journals

The PTEN–AKT3 signaling cascade as a therapeutic target in melanomaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Melanocytes undergo extensive genetic changes during transformation into aggressive melanomas. These changes deregulate genes whose aberrant activity promotes the development of this disease. The phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways are two key signaling cascades that have been found to play prominent roles in melanoma development. These pathways relay extra-cellular signals via an ordered series of consecutive phosphorylation events from cell surface throughout the cytoplasm and nucleus regulating diverse cellular processes including proliferation, survival, invasion and ang...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - June 24, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: SubbaRao V. Madhunapantula, Gavin P. Robertson Source Type: journals

α-MSH tripeptide analogs activate the melanocortin 1 receptor and reduce UV-induced DNA damage in human melanocytesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
One skin cancer prevention strategy that we are developing is based on synthesizing and testing melanocortin analogs that reduce and repair DNA damage resulting from exposure to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, in addition to stimulating pigmentation. Previously, we reported the effects of tetrapeptide analogs of [alpha]-melanocortin ([alpha]-MSH) that were more potent and stable than the physiological [alpha]-MSH, and mimicked its photoprotective effects against UV-induced DNA damage in human melanocytes. Here, we report on a panel of tripeptide analogs consisting of a modified [alpha]-MSH core His6-d-Phe7-Arg8, which co...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - June 22, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Zalfa A. Abdel-Malek, Andrew Ruwe, Renny Kavanagh-Starner, Ana Luisa Kadekaro, Viki Swope, Carrie Haskell-Luevano, Leonid Koikov, James J. Knittel Source Type: journals

Met amplification and tumor progression in Cdkn2a-deficient melanocytesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study validates a role for Met activation in melanoma tumor progression in the context of Cdkn2a deficiency. (Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - June 10, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Matthew W. VanBrocklin, James P. Robinson, Todd Whitwam, Adam R. Guilbeault, Julie Koeman, Pamela J. Swiatek, George F. Vande Woude, Joseph D. Khoury, Sheri L. Holmen Source Type: journals

Frequent mutations in the MITF pathway in melanomaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is involved in melanocyte cell development, pigmentation and neoplasia. To determine whether MITF is somatically mutated in melanoma, we compared the sequence of MITF from primary and metastatic lesions to patient-matched normal DNA. In the 50 metastatic melanoma tumor lines analysed, we discovered four samples that had genomic amplifications of MITF and four that had MITF mutations in the regions encoding the transactivation, DNA binding or basic, helix-loop-helix domains. Sequence analysis for SOX10, a transcription factor, which both acts upstream of MITF and synergi...
Source: Pigment Cell Research - June 5, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: Julia C. Cronin, John Wunderlich, Stacie K. Loftus, Todd D. Prickett, Xiaomu Wei, Katie Ridd, Swapna Vemula, Allison S. Burrell, Neena S. Agrawal, Jimmy C. Lin, Carolyn E. Banister, Phillip Buckhaults, Steven A. Rosenberg, Boris C. Bastian, William J. Pav Source Type: journals

Seeing red: pheomelanin synthesis uncoveredEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
(Source: Pigment Cell Research)
Source: Pigment Cell Research - June 4, 2009 Category: Cytology Authors: John D. Simon Source Type: journals