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Dual origin of melanocytes defined by S ox1 expression and their region‐specific distribution in mammalian skin
Author(s) -
Yoshimura Naoko,
Motohashi Tsutomu,
Aoki Hitomi,
Tezuka Kenichi,
Watanabe Natsuki,
Wakaoka Takanori,
Era Takumi,
Kunisada Takahiro
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1111/dgd.12034
Subject(s) - neuroepithelial cell , neural crest , microbiology and biotechnology , neural tube , biology , melanocyte , population , epidermis (zoology) , embryo , anatomy , stem cell , neural stem cell , genetics , melanoma , demography , sociology
Melanocytes are pigment‐producing cells generated from neural crest cells ( NCC s) that delaminate from the dorsal neural tube. The widely accepted premise that NCC s 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 NCC s. In this study, we show that a NCC population that is not derived from S ox1 + dorsal neuroepithelial cells but are derived from S ox1 − cells differentiate into a significant population of melanocytes in the skin of mice. Later, these S ox1 − cells clearly segregate from cells that originated from S ox1 + dorsal neuroepithelial cell‐derived NCC s. The possible derivation of S ox1 − cells from epidermal cells also strengthens their non‐neuroepithelial origin.