Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2025

Direct Reprogramming of Mouse Fibroblasts into Melanocytes
Published on: August 27, 2021
[Vitiligo, no longer a fatality in 2023]
David Alvarez Martinez1, Clémence Bertold2, Thierry Passeron2,3
1Service de dermatologie et vénéréologie, Département de médecine, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, 1211 Genève 14.
Abstract:
Vitiligo is an acquired auto-inflammatory disorder characterized by a depigmentation. It is a polygenic disease developed in a context of allelic variations. Its pathophysiology is complex, associating intrinsic skin defects, exposome triggering factors and innate then adaptive auto-immune activation leading to the loss of melanocytes. The diagnosis is clinical. Nevertheless, Wood's lamp is mandatory to assess the lesions and their activity, especially in fair-skinned patients. The management of vitiligo is long and aims to halt the depigmentation process and to repigment the affected areas. This requires a combination of immunosuppressive topical or systemic treatment with ultraviolet rays from phototherapy or sun exposure.
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