From neural crest cells to melanocytes: cellular plasticity during development and beyond.
Niels Vandamme1,2,3,4, Geert Berx5,6
1Molecular and Cellular Oncology Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 71, 9052, Ghent, Belgium.
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS
|March 5, 2019
Summary
Melanoblasts, specified for pigment cells, exhibit plasticity, potentially reverting to other neural crest cell types. Understanding their development and migration is key to melanocyte stability and hair follicle cycling.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Melanocyte development involves specified embryonic melanoblasts.
- These melanoblasts display cellular plasticity, not being fully committed to the melanocyte lineage.
- Even differentiated melanocytes can exhibit unstable phenotypes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review melanocyte development and the plasticity of embryonic melanoblasts.
- To explore the factors influencing lineage restriction and cell fate.
- To understand the regulation of melanocyte homeostasis in hair follicles.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on melanocyte development.
- Analysis of cell-intrinsic and extracellular signaling pathways.
- Examination of neural crest cell differentiation and migration.
Main Results:
- Embryonic melanoblasts are prone to cellular plasticity, interconverting with other neural crest lineages.
- Lineage restriction is a gradual process influenced by timing, axial positioning, and signaling.
- Melanoblast migration routes, like the dorsolateral path, are critical for development.
- A glial-melanogenic bipotent progenitor is the common precursor for melanoblasts and neurogenic cells.
Conclusions:
- Melanocyte development is characterized by plasticity, with potential for dedifferentiation and redifferentiation.
- Cellular plasticity of melanoblasts is regulated by intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
- Understanding melanoblast migration and patterning is crucial for maintaining melanocyte homeostasis throughout hair cycling.
Related Concept Videos
01:31Plasticizers
365
Water-reducers, or plasticizers, are chemical admixtures used in concrete to improve strength and workability. These additives reduce the water-cement ratio without compromising workability, lower the cement content while maintaining the same workability, or increase workability to assist concrete placement in inaccessible areas.
Plasticizers function by using surface-active agents to create repulsive electrostatic forces between cement particles. This dispersion enhances the concrete's...
Plasticizers function by using surface-active agents to create repulsive electrostatic forces between cement particles. This dispersion enhances the concrete's...
365
00:58Plasticity
3.1K
Plasticity is the property where an object loses its elasticity and undergoes irreversible deformation, even after the deformation forces are eliminated. If a material deforms irreversibly without increasing stress or load, then this is called ideal plasticity. For example, when a force is applied to an aluminum rod, it changes its shape, but it does not return to its original shape once the force is removed. Plastic deformation or ductility is thus a permanent deformation or change in the...
3.1K
01:21Plastic Behavior
562
A material's elastic behavior is characterized by the disappearance of stress once the load is removed, allowing the material to return to its original state. However, when stress surpasses the yield point, yielding commences, marking the onset of plastic deformation or permanent set. This change from elastic to plastic behavior is influenced by the peak stress value and the duration before the load is removed. An intriguing observation occurs when a specimen is loaded, unloaded, and...
562
01:14Plastic Deformations
430
It is essential to understand how structural members behave under plastic deformation when the bending stress exceeds the material's yield strength. This state of deformation permanently alters the shape of the member, in contrast to the linear elastic behavior observed before yielding. The strain at any point in the member is expressed in terms of maximum strain. Notably, the neutral axis, which coincides with the centroid during elastic bending, shifts away from the centroid under plastic...
430
01:19Plastic Deformations
453
Plastic deformation represents a fundamental concept in materials science, which explains the irreversible change in the shape of a material when it experiences stress beyond its elastic capability. This phenomenon is important in structural engineering, especially in designing and analyzing cantilever beams—structures that are securely fixed at one end and bear loads at the opposite end. When these beams are subjected to loads within their elastic range, they will return to their...
453
01:37Neural Regulation
43.3K
Digestion begins with a cephalic phase that prepares the digestive system to receive food. When our brain processes visual or olfactory information about food, it triggers impulses in the cranial nerves innervating the salivary glands and stomach to prepare for food.
43.3K