Abstract
Human melanocytes have been extensively studied, but a melanocyte stem cell reservoir in glabrous skin has not yet been found. Human dermis contains cells that are nonpigmented but can differentiate to several different cell types. We have recently shown that multipotent dermal stem cells isolated from human neonatal foreskins are able to differentiate to multiple cell lineages, including pigmented melanocytes. The dermal stem cells grow as three-dimensional spheres in human embryonic stem cell medium and express some neural crest stem cell and embryonic stem cell markers. Melanocytes derived from dermal stem cells express melanocytic markers and act the same way as mature epidermal melanocytes. Dermal spheres, embedded in the reconstructed dermis consisting of collagen with fibroblasts, can migrate to the basement membrane, where they become pigmented in the same way as epidermal melanocytes suggesting that dermal stem cells can give rise to epidermal melanocytes.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Le Douarin, N.M. (1999). The Neural Crest. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Hu, F., Staricco, R.J., Pinkus, H., and Fosnaugh, R. (1957) Human melanocytes in tissue culture. J. Invest. Dermatol. 28, 15–32.
Kitano, Y. (1976) Stimulation by melanocyte stimulating hormone and dibutyryl adenosine 3′, 5′-cyclic monophosphate of DNA synthesis in human melanocytes in vitro. Arch. Derm. Res. 257, 47–52.
Mayer, T.C. (1982) The control of embryonic pigment cell proliferation in culture by cyclic AMP. Dev. Biol. 94, 509–614.
Wilkins, L.M. and Szabo, G.C. (1981) Use of mycostatin-supplemented media to establish pure epidermal melanocyte culture (abstract). J Invest. Dermatol. 76, 332.
Eisinger, M. and Marko, O. (1982) Selective proliferation of normal human melanocytes in vitro in the presence of phorbol ester and cholera toxin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Scil USA 79, 2018–2022.
Nishimura, E.K., Jordan, S.A., Oshima, H., Yoshida, H., Osawa, M., Moriyama, M., Jackson, I.J., Barrandon,Y., Miyachi, Y. and Nishikawa, S. (2002) Dominant role of the niche in melanocyte stem-cell fate determination. Nature 416, 854–860.
Yu, H., Fang, D., Kumar, S.M., Li, L., Nguyen, T.K., Acs, G., Herlyn, M. and Xu, X. (2006) Isolation of a novel population of multipotent adult stem cells from human hair follicles. Am. J. Pathol. 168, 1879–1888.
Li, L., Fukunaga-Kalabis, M., Yu, H., Xu, X., Kong, J. Lee, J. and Herlyn, M. (2010) Human dermal stem cells differentiate into functional epidermal melanocytes. J Cell Sci. 123, 853–860.
Xu C, Inokuma MS, Denham J, Golds K, Kundu P, Gold JD et al. (2001). Feeder-free growth of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells. Nat Biotechnol, 19, 971–974.
Fang D, Leishear K, Nguyen TK, Finko R, Cai K, Fukunaga M et al. (2006). Defining the conditions for the generation of melanocytes from human embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells, 24, 1668–1677.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Li, L., Fukunaga-Kalabis, M., Herlyn, M. (2012). Isolation and Cultivation of Dermal Stem Cells that Differentiate into Functional Epidermal Melanocytes. In: Mitry, R., Hughes, R. (eds) Human Cell Culture Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 806. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-367-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-367-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-366-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-367-7
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols