Complex signatures of selection for the melanogenic loci TYR, TYRP1 and DCT in humans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The observed correlation between ultraviolet light incidence and skin color, together with the geographical apportionment of skin reflectance among human populations, suggests an adaptive value for the pigmentation of the human skin. We have used Affymetrix U133a v2.0 gene expression microarrays to investigate the expression profiles of a total of 9 melanocyte cell lines (5 from lightly pigmented donors and 4 from darkly pigmented donors) plus their respective unirradiated controls. In order to reveal signatures of selection in loci with a bearing on skin pigmentation in humans, we have resequenced between 4 to 5 kb of the proximal regulatory regions of three of the most differently expressed genes, in the expectation that variation at regulatory regions might account fo

SUBMITTER: Alonso S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2292700 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature