Generating melanocytes from human pluripotent stem cells

Coverage on: Mica, Y., Lee, G., Chambers, S. M., Tomishima, M. J., and Studer, L. (2013). Modeling Neural Crest Induction, Melanocyte Specification, and Disease-Related Pigmentation Defects in hESCs and Patient-Specific iPSCS. Cell Reports 3, 1140-1152. Epidermal melanocytes are pigment-producing cells derived from the neural crest (NC), a transient embryonic stem cell population that emerges from the dorsal margin of the neural plate in vertebrate embryos. The generation of melanocytes encompasses several intricate cellular processes including fate specification, proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Aberrant melanocyte development and homeostasis is at the onset of many pigmentary disorders, such as albinism, piebaldism, vitiligo, hyperplasia, and melanoma. Therefore, understanding human melanocytic development and disease is crucial. To this end, the establishment of methods that facilitate the study of patient-specific melanocyte biology and disease modeling is important