Pigment Cell Biology
Pigment Cell Biology - Related Videos
10:48
Rapid, Directed Differentiation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells from Human Embryonic or Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
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Cited by 53 •
2017
This protocol describes how to produce retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE) from pluripotent stem cells. The method uses a combination of growth factors and small molecules to direct the differentiation of stem cells into immature RPE in fourteen days and mature, functional RPE after three months.
08:41
Quantifying Abdominal Pigmentation in Drosophila melanogaster
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Cited by 5 •
2017
This work presents a method to quickly and precisely quantify the abdominal pigmentation of Drosophila melanogaster using digital image analysis. This method streamlines the procedures between phenotype acquisition and data analysis and includes specimen mounting, image acquisition, pixel value extraction, and trait measurement.
06:04
Performing Subretinal Injections in Rodents to Deliver Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells in Suspension
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Cited by 32 •
2015
Here we present a community accepted protocol in multimedia format for subretinally injecting a bolus of RPE cells in rats and mice. This approach can be used for determining rescue potentials, safety profiles, and survival capacities of grafted RPE cells upon implantation in animal models of retinal degeneration.
07:07
Efficient Derivation of Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells from Stem Cells
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Cited by 21 •
2015
Stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells may be used for multiple applications including cell-based therapies for retinal degeneration, disease modeling, and drug studies. Here we present a simple protocol for reproducibly deriving RPE from stem cells.
11:03
A Method for Extracting Pigments from Squid Doryteuthis pealeii
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Cited by 4 •
2016
A protocol for the extraction of pigments from the nanostructured granules in squid Doryteuthis pealeii chromatophores is presented.
FAQs
Melanosomes provide the specialized cellular setting in which melanocytes synthesize and organize melanin. Their maturation is important because pigment production is linked to the organelle’s movement through the cell and eventual delivery to neighboring keratinocytes. Studying these stages helps researchers connect intracellular organization with visible pigmentation and with failures of pigment formation associated with conditions such as albinism.
Pigmentation depends not only on melanin synthesis but also on the movement of mature melanosomes through melanocytes and their transfer to keratinocytes. This cell-to-cell distribution determines how pigment becomes positioned within surrounding skin tissue. Examining transport and transfer therefore reveals how activity in one cell type produces a broader tissue-level outcome, including protection from ultraviolet radiation.
Key processes include pigment-cell development, signaling, migration, organelle maturation, and interactions with surrounding tissues. These processes are studied together because changes in one can influence pigment production, distribution, or tissue behavior. Their relationships also make pigment cells useful for investigating broader biological questions about cell differentiation, communication, and organization within tissues.
Research can compare where pigment formation or distribution becomes disrupted, including development, melanin synthesis, melanosome maturation, movement, or transfer to keratinocytes. This process-based view helps distinguish defects in pigment-cell function from problems in tissue distribution. Such knowledge supports a more precise understanding of pigmentation disorders and albinism without treating visible coloration as the only relevant outcome.
Pigment cell biology contributes to these areas by examining how pigment cells develop, migrate, and interact with surrounding tissues. Those same cellular behaviors are relevant when researchers study tissue organization and regeneration. Investigations can therefore use pigment cells to connect specialized pigmentation functions with broader questions about cell differentiation, movement, tissue repair, and the restoration of tissue structure.
The field provides a cellular framework for examining pigment-cell behavior in relation to melanoma and for considering therapeutic strategies. Researchers can focus on development, signaling, migration, and interactions with neighboring tissues to understand how pigment-cell biology relates to disease. This context also links basic studies of cellular behavior with efforts to investigate clinically relevant outcomes.