What controls melanogenesis?
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 28, 2026

Pharmacologic Induction of Epidermal Melanin and Protection Against Sunburn in a Humanized Mouse Model
Published on: September 7, 2013
K Schallreuter1, A Slominski, J M Pawelek
1Dept of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bradford, UK. K.Schallreuter@bradford.ac.uk
Abstract:
The pigments eumelanin and pheomelanin are the visually most striking products of specialized neural crest-derived cells (melanocytes), and provide color to both epidermis and hair shafts. While the intriguing and controversial biological functions of these multifaceted heteropolymers will be discussed in a later feature, here it is explored how their generation (melanogenesis) is controlled. For decades, this has been the object of much controversy, the salient features of which are delineated in the following contributions.
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