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What controls melanogenesis?
Author(s) -
Schallreuter K.,
Slominski A.,
Pawelek J. M.,
Jimbow K.,
Gilchrest B. A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.108
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0625
pISSN - 0906-6705
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0625.1998.tb00315.x
Subject(s) - epidermis (zoology) , neural crest , melanin , feature (linguistics) , biology , salient , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , artificial intelligence , computer science , genetics , embryo , linguistics , philosophy
The pigments eumelanin and pheomelanin are the visually most striking products of specialized neural crest‐derived cells (melanocytes), and provide color to both epidermis and hair shafts. While the intriguing and controversial biological functions of these multifaceted heteropolymers will be discussed in a later feature, here it is explored how their generation (melanogenesis) is controlled. For decades, this has been the object of much controversy, the salient features of which are delineated in the following contributions.