Abstract
The Regulation of Skin Pigmentation
Highlights
Visible pigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes depends primarily on the functions of melanocytes, a very minor population of cells that specialize in the synthesis and distribution of the pigmented biopolymer melanin
Melanocytes are derived from precursor cells during embryological development, and melanoblasts destined for the skin originate from the neural crest
Each melanocyte at the basal layer of the epidermis is functionally connected to underlying fibroblasts in the dermis and to keratinocytes in the overlying epidermis
Summary
Yuji Yamaguchi‡§1, Michaela Brenner‡, and Vincent J. Each melanocyte at the basal layer of the epidermis is functionally connected to underlying fibroblasts in the dermis and to keratinocytes in the overlying epidermis. Those three types of cells are highly interactive and communicate with each other via secreted factors and their receptors and via cell/cell contacts to regulate the function and phenotype of the skin. That upward pressure carries them toward the surface of the skin along with their ingested melanin to form a critical barrier for the organism against the environment and the many stresses that originate there It is not the melanin within melanocytes only, but in combination with the pigment in more superficial layers, that gives skin its characteristic color. This review will restrict itself to epidermal pigmentation, and readers interested in factors influencing pigmentation at other sites should consult recent reviews [1,2,3,4,5,6] and books [7, 8] on those topics
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