Latest Melanocyte Stories

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A group of researchers from Brown University have demonstrated that certain skin cells use a light-sensitive receptor found outside of the eye to detect ultraviolet light and quickly begin producing melanin to prevent DNA damage. The same team, in a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has identified a key player in that biomolecular chain of events that could become a pharmacological target for...

Promising target for the development of novel drugs With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma. The results, published in the scientific journal "Genes & Development", throw new light on the workings of the so-called Microphthalmia-associated Transcription Factor MITF, that is not only connected to skin cancer, but also...

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC) and Cancer Center recently discovered that a kind of pigment found in individuals with red hair and fair skin may affect the development of melanoma. The scientists explained how various forms of the pigment melanin could be found in the skin. While eumelanin, a black or dark form of melanin, could be found in people with darker hair or...

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online While pale can be described as “pasty” and “sickly,” tan can be described as “glowing” and “lively.” In the past, pale skin was cherished and associated with wealth. These days, people seek tan skin and tanning has had resurgence in recent years. A study by the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) looked at how skin melanoma was affected by UV and melanin. The findings of the project were...

A group of scientists at Brown University in Rhode Island discovered that the skin and eyes use the same molecular mechanism to protect themselves from the UV light. The discovery was reported in the journal Current Biology. The scientists discovered that the cells that create melanin - melanocytes - contain rhodopsin, a photosensitive receptor used in the eye to detect light. They also discovered that the body produces melanin to protect the cells much quicker than previously suspected....

Using an ultrafast femtosecond laser, researchers at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., were able to label, draw patterns on, and remove individual melanocytes cells from a species of frog tadpole (Xenopus) without damaging surrounding cells and tissues. Melanocytes are the cells responsible for skin pigment; they also are descendants of a specific type of stem cell that has regenerative potential and other characteristics similar to some cancer cells.By precisely marking and ablating these...

According to a new study published in the journal Cell, Wnt signaling, already known to control many biological processes, between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells can determine hair pigmentation. The research at NYU Langone Medical Center was led by Mayumi Ito, PhD, assistant professor at the Ronald O. Pereleman Department of Dermatology at NYU. "We have known for decades that hair follicle stem cells and pigment-producing melanocyte cells collaborate to produce colored hair, but the...

ADA, Mich., May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Amway and Yale University researcher Dr. John Pawelek, have entered into an exclusive three-year agreement to research the biological mechanisms underlying skin pigmentation. The long-term research goal is to better understand human skin pigmentation disorders, including hyperpigmentation, and develop innovative, safe and effective therapies for these hard-to-treat and often psychologically painful conditions. (Logo:...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Scientists have discovered a more effective alternative to skin whitening creams, and it comes from an ancient Chinese herb.Skin whitening is popular in countries like China, Japan, Korea and India, where many women view whiter skin as a symbol of beauty, good health and high social status. According to one study, about half the women in Asian countries use lightening creams. This adds up to billions of dollars a year.Many whitening creams and lotions contain substances...

The sun's ultraviolet light activates an enzyme that helps skin cancer cells survive and proliferate, researchers report.The finding shows another way cancer pirates normal body functions as it points toward better treatment for the million new cases of non-melanoma skin cancers diagnosed in the United States annually, said Dr. Wendy Bollag, corresponding author of the study in Oncogene. Bollag is a cell physiologist at the Medical College of Georgia and the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs...