Interspecies difference in the regulation of melanocyte development by SOX10 and MITF.

ABSTRACT: There is increasing indication that interspecific phenotypic differences result from variations in gene-regulatory interactions. Here we provide evidence that mice differ from zebrafish in the way they use homologous key components to regulate pigment cell differentiation. In both zebrafish and mice, one transcription factor, SOX10, controls the expression of another, MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor), which in turn regulates a set of genes critical for pigment cell development and pigmentation. Mutations in either Sox10 or Mitf impair pigment cell development. In Sox10-mutant zebrafish, experimentally induced expression of Mitf fully rescues pigmentation. Using lineage-directed gene transfer, we show that, in the mouse, Mitf can rescue Sox10-mutant precursor cells only

SUBMITTER: Hou L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1482569 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature