@article{oai:repo.qst.go.jp:00044081,
 author = {Hirobe, Tomohisa and Wakamatsu, Kazumasa and Ito, Shosuke and Kawa, Yoko and Mizoguchi, Masako and et.al and 廣部 知久},
 issue = {6},
 journal = {European Journal of Cell Biology},
 month = {Jun},
 note = {The slaty (slt) mutation is known to reduce the activity of dopachrome tautomerase (Dct)/tyrosinase (Tyr)-related protein (TRP)-2 in melanocytes. However, it is unknown whether the reduced Dct activity leads to a defect in the proliferation and differentiation of mouse melanocytes. To address this point, the proliferation and differentiation of neonatal melanocytes from congenic mice in serum-free primary culture were investigated in detail. The proliferation of slaty epidermal melanoblasts/melanocytes in culture did not differ from that of wild-type mice. However, the differentiation was greatly inhibited. Tyr activity detected by dopa reaction as well as staining of Dct/TRP-2 in slaty melanocytes was greatly reduced. The content of eumelanin in cultured slaty melanocytes was reduced, whereas the content of pheomelanin in media derived from cultured 7.5-day-old slaty melanocytes was greatly increased. The contents of eumelanin and pheomelanin in the neonatal slaty epidermis and dermis were reduced, except that the pheomelanin content in 3.5-day-old dermis was increased. These results suggest that the slaty gene affects both eumelanin and pheomelanin synthesis in developmental stage-specific and skin site-specific manners, and, in addition, the gene controls the differentiation of melanocytes via the regulation of activities of Dct/TRP-2 and Tyr.},
 pages = {537--549},
 title = {The slaty mutation affects eumelanin and pheomelanin synthesis in mouse melanocytes},
 volume = {85},
 year = {2006}
}