Oral communication, CS6 / C22

Official XXIst International Pigment Cell Conference website - 21-24 Sept 2011, Bordeaux - France | updated: September 04 2011

Detection of new factors involved in melanogenesis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Paracrine factors such as alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) and endothelin have been demonstrated to play pivotal roles in human skin pigmentation. The discovery of new factors can have impacts on wide areas of pigmentation studies, given the potential contributions to not only the development of basic research, but also etiological research, since the factor itself or its receptor may show associations with pigment disorders or characteristic phenotypes. The objective of this study was to detect new factors involved in melanogenesis using comprehensive analysis. METHODS: A co-culture system was constructed, in which melanocytes are stimulated to produce melanin under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. DNA microarray studies were performed to detect up-regulated genes after UV irradiation. We then validated the significance of the detected genes on UV-induced melanogenesis using a small interfering RNA study. We also directly examined the importance of candidate genes by testing whether recombinant peptides can induce melanogenesis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Examination of over 40,000 candidate genes using microarray techniques demonstrated the possibility of the existence of new factors. We are currently verifying the functions of these factors in terms of melanogenesis. In this presentation, we present the latest results of our research.

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