Virtual Issue on Cell Biology

Most recent articles published on on Cell Biology [2009] [2008] [2007] [2006] [2005]

Preface by Alastair Hume and Miguel Seabra

The melanosome of melanocytes represents one of the most important model systems for understanding fundamental issues in modern cell biology such as how an organelle is synthesized, transported both within and between cells, and the environmental stimuli that prompt organelle biogenesis. From a morphological viewpoint, melanocytes and melanosomes provide ideal models for the study of cellular organelles. Cultured melanocytes are generally large, flat cells containing a collection of large (~0.5 micrometres in diameter) organelles exhibiting high contrast, which are readily observed by light microscopy. In addition, melanosomes mature through a series of intermediates that are easily identified morphologically using electron microscopy. The advent of high resolution live-cell optical microscopy and application of fluorescent protein technology to intracellular transport has further advanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying synthesis and transport of melanosomes. In addition, the notable recent creation of a collection of immortal mouse melanocyte cell lines derived from pigmentation mutants that can be easily cultured in vitro will greatly facilitate research in the field.

This virtual issue brings together recent exciting published studies on cell biological studies of melanocytes and pigmentation and brings together a diverse group of papers covering melanocyte homeostasis and proliferation, regulation of melanin biosynthesis, signaling pathways involved in photoadaptation and melanocyte morphology, motors associated with melanosome movement, and melanosome transfer from melanocytes to keratinocytes.

 

Recent Articles Published on Cell Biology

2009

Gray zone prompting new imagination 
Shinichi Nishikawa

a-MSH tripeptide analogs activate the melanocortin 1 receptor and reduce UV-induced DNA damage in human melanocytes 
Zalfa A. Abdel-Malek, Andrew Ruwe, Renny Kavanagh-Starner, Ana Luisa Kadekaro, Viki Swope, Carrie Haskell-Luevano, Leonid Koikov, James J. Knittel

Carney complex and lentiginosis 
Anelia Horvath, Constantine A. Stratakis

Agouti protein, mahogunin, and attractin in pheomelanogenesis and melanoblast-like alteration of melanocytes: a cAMP-independent pathway 
Tokimasa Hida, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Elena V. Sviderskaya, Andrew J. Donkin, Lluis Montoliu, M. Lynn Lamoreux, Bin Yu, Glenn L. Millhauser, Shosuke Ito, Gregory S. Barsh, Kowichi Jimbow, Dorothy C. Bennett

Myrip uses distinct domains in the cellular activation of myosin VA and myosin VIIA in melanosome transport
José S. Ramalho, Vanda S. Lopes, Abul K. Tarafder, Miguel C. Seabra, Alistair N. Hume

Maximizing tumor cell invasion
Pat P. Ongusaha, Sam W. Lee

2008

NDRG2 gene expression in B16F10 melanoma cells restrains melanogenesis via inhibition of Mitf expression
Aeyung Kim, Young Yang, Myeong-Sok Lee, Young Do Yoo, Hee Gu Lee, Jong-Seok Lim
December 2008

The significance of Nrf2 pathway in (photo)-oxidative stress response in melanocytes and keratinocytes of the human epidermis
Laurent Marrot, Christophe Jones, Philippe Perez, Jean-Roch Meunier
February

Both Notch1 and Notch2 contribute to the regulation of melanocyte homeostasis
Keiki Kumano, Shigeo Masuda, Masataka Sata, Toshiki Saito, Suk-young Lee, Mamiko Sakata-Yanagimoto, Taisuke Tomita, Takeshi Iwatsubo, Hideaki Natsugari, Mineo Kurokawa, Seishi Ogawa, Shigeru Chiba
February

Mitf contributes to melanosome distribution and melanophore dendricity
Akiha Kawasaki, Mayuko Kumasaka, Akira Satoh, Makoto Suzuki, Koji Tamura, Toshiyasu Goto, Makoto Asashima, Hiroaki Yamamoto
February

2007

Melanocyte-keratinocyte interaction induces calcium signalling and melanin transfer to keratinocytes
Preeti G. Joshi, Nirmala Nair, Gulnaz Begum, Nanda B. Joshi, Vilas P. Sinkar, Shilpa Vora
October

MEK mediates in vitro neural transdifferentiation of the adult newt retinal pigment epithelium cells: Is FGF2 an induction factor?
Kanako Susaki, Chikafumi Chiba
October

The tyrosinase enhancer is activated by Sox10 and Mitf in mouse melanocytes
Fabien Murisier, Sabrina Guichard, Friedrich Beermann
June

Zebrafish as a new model for phenotype-based screening of melanogenic regulatory compounds
Tae-Young Choi, Jin-Hwa Kim, Dong Han Ko, Cheol-Hee Kim, Jae-Sung Hwang, Soomi Ahn, Sun Yeou Kim, Chang-Deok Kim, Jeung-Hoon Lee, Tae-Jin Yoon
April

2006

Reduced expression of vps11 causes less pigmentation in medaka, Oryzias latipes
Jia-Fei Yu, Shoji Fukamachi, Hiroshi Mitani, Hiroshi Hori, Akira Kanamori
December

Activation of the Mitf promoter by lipid-stimulated activation of p38-stress signalling to CREB
Bidisha Saha, Suman Kumar Singh, Chinmoy Sarkar, Rabindranath Bera, Jagnyeswar Ratha, Desmond J. Tobin, Ranjan Bhadra
December

In vivo and in vitro evidence of dermal fibroblasts influence on human epidermal pigmentation
Muriel Cario-André, Catherine Pain, Yvon Gauthier, Vincent Casoli, Alain Taieb
October

Increased expression of integrins and decreased apoptosis correlate with increased melanocyte retention in cultured skin substitutes
Viki B. Swope, Andrew P. Supp, Sandy Schwemberger, George Babcock, Steven Boyce
October

Rab7 and Rab27a control two motor protein activities involved in melanosomal transport
Ingrid Jordens, Wendy Westbroek, Marije Marsman, Nuno Rocha, Mieke Mommaas, Marjan Huizing, Jo Lambert, Jean M. Naeyaert, Jacques Neefjes
October

Melanin content and MC1R function independently affect UVR-induced DNA damage in cultured human melanocytes
Jennifer E. Hauser, Ana Luisa Kadekaro, Renny J. Kavanagh, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Silva Terzieva, Sandy Schwemberger, George Babcock, M. B. Rao, Shosuke Ito, Zalfa A. Abdel-Malek
Pages 337-345
August

The zebrafish mutant vps18 as a model for vesicle-traffic related hypopigmentation diseases
Ernesto Maldonado, Fabiola Hernandez, Carlos Lozano, Marta E. Castro, Rosa E. Navarro
June

Regulation of pigmentation in zebrafish melanophores
Darren W. Logan, Sally F. Burn, Ian J. Jackson
June 2006

Skin layer-specific transcriptional profiles in normal and recessive yellow (Mc1re/Mc1re) mice
Craig S. April, Gregory S. Barsh
June 2

Inhibitory effect of piperlonguminine on melanin production in melanoma B16 cell line by downregulation of tyrosinase expression
Kyeong-Soo Kim, Jeong Ah Kim, Seung-Yong Eom, Seung Ho Lee, Kyung Rak Min, Youngsoo Kim
February

Quantitative analysis of MC1R gene expression in human skin cell cultures
Donald W. Roberts, Richard A. Newton, Kimberley A. Beaumont, J. Helen Leonard, Richard A. Sturm
February

Association of kinesin and myosin with pigment granules in crustacean chromatophores
Robert Tew Boyle, John Campbell McNamara
February

Glutamate receptors on human melanocytes regulate the expression of MiTF
M. J. Hoogduijn, I. S. Hitchcock, N. P. M. Smit, J. M. Gillbro, K. U. Schallreuter, P. G. Genever
February

2005

Triazine-based tyrosinase inhibitors identified by chemical genetic screening
Li Ni-Komatsu, Jennifer K. Leung, Darren Williams, Jaeki Min, Sonya M. Khersonsky, Young-Tae Chang, Seth J. Orlow
December

Inhibition of skin pigmentation by an extract of Lepidium apetalum and its possible implication in IL-6 mediated signaling
Hyunjung Choi, Soomi Ahn, Byeong G. Lee, Ihseop Chang, Jae S. Hwang
December

Membranous complexes characteristic of melanocytes derived from patients with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 1 are macroautophagosomal entities of the lysosomal compartment
Justin W. Smith, Amy Koshoffer, Randal E. Morris, Raymond E. Boissy
December

Different approaches for assaying melanosome transfer
Werner Berens, Karolien Van Den Bossche, Tae-Jin Yoon, Wendy Westbroek, Julio C. Valencia, Coby J. Out, Jean Marie Naeyaert, Vincent J. Hearing, Jo Lambert
October

The signaling pathway in photoresponses that may be mediated by visual pigments in erythrophores of Nile tilapia
Eiko Ban, Akiko Kasai, Masako Sato, Akemi Yokozeki, Osamu Hisatomi, Noriko Oshima
October

MITF and cell proliferation: the role of alternative splice forms
Keren Bismuth, Dragan Maric, Heinz Arnheiter
October

Gene expression profiling of cultured human NF1 heterozygous (NF1+/) melanocytes reveals downregulation of a transcriptional cis-regulatory network mediating activation of the melanocyte-specific dopachrome tautomerase (DCT) gene
Joachim Boucneau, Sofie De Schepper, Marnik Vuylsteke, Paul Van Hummelen, Jean-Marie Naeyaert, Jo Lambert
August

Changes in responses of UVB irradiated skin of brownish guinea pigs with aging
Megumi Tobiishi, Akinori Haratake, Hiroko Kaminaga, Michio Nakahara, Aya Komiya, Hisa Koishikawa, Hideyo Uchiwa, Yoko Kawa, Masako Mizoguchi
August

Sumoylation modulates transcriptional activity of MITF in a promoter-specific manner
Hideki Murakami, Heinz Arnheiter
August

Melanocytes in conditional Rb-/- mice are normal in vivo but exhibit proliferation and pigmentation defects in vitro
Ian D. Tonks, Elke Hacker, Nicole Irwin, H. Konrad Muller, Patricia Keith, Arne Mould, Anna Zournazi, Sandra Pavey, Nicholas K. Hayward, Graeme Walker, Graham F. Kay
August

Dynamic regulation of the human dopachrome tautomerase promoter by MITF, ER-a and chromatin remodelers during proliferation and senescence of human melanocytes
Denise J. Schwahn, Nikolai A. Timchenko, Shigeki Shibahara, Estela E. Medrano
June

Establishment of a Kit-negative cell line of melanocyte precursors from mouse neural crest cells
Yoko Kawa, Yoshinao Soma, Masayuki Nakamura, Masaru Ito, Tamihiro Kawakami, Takako Baba, Kuniko Sibahara, Kayoko Ohsumi, Shiho Ooka, Hidenori Watabe, Hirotake Ono, Eri Hosaka, Satoko Kimura, Tsuneto Kushimoto, Masako Mizoguchi
June

Degradation of tyrosinase induced by phenylthiourea occurs following Golgi maturation
Andrea M. Hall, Seth J. Orlow
April

Human placental lipid induces melanogenesis through p38 MAPK in B16F10 mouse melanoma
Suman Kumar Singh, Chinmoy Sarkar, Shampa Mallick, Bidisha Saha, Rabindranath Bera, Ranjan Bhadra*
April

Principal expression of two mRNA isoforms (ABCB 5a and ABCB 5ß ) of the ATP-binding cassette transporter gene ABCB 5 in melanoma cells and melanocytes
Kevin G. Chen, Gergely Szakács, Jean-Philippe Annereau, Francois Rouzaud, Xing-Jie Liang, Julio C. Valencia, Chandrasekharam N. Nagineni, John J. Hooks, Vincent J. Hearing, Michael M. Gottesman
April

Comparative study of eye defective worm 'menashi' and regenerating wild-type in planarian, Dugesia ryukyuensis
Yukiko Sato, Kazuya Kobayashi, Midori Matsumoto, Motonori Hoshi, Sumiko Negishi
April

Widespread expression of the bovine Agouti gene results from at least three alternative promoters
Michael Girardot, Juliette Martin, Sylvain Guibert, Hubert Leveziel, Raymond Julien, Ahmad Oulmouden
February

Human placental lipid induces melanogenesis by increasing the expression of tyrosinase and its related proteins in vitro
Shampa Mallick, Suman Kumar Singh, Chinmoy Sarkar, Bidisha Saha, Ranjan Bhadra
February