A Novel Method for Visualizing Melanosome and Melanin Distribution in Human Skin Tissues.

ABSTRACT: Melanin incorporated into keratinocytes plays an important role in photoprotection; however, abnormal melanin accumulation causes hyperpigmentary disorders. To understand the mechanism behind the accumulation of excess melanin in the skin, it is essential to clarify the spatial distribution of melanosomes or melanin in the epidermis. Although several markers have been used to detect melanosomes or melanin, no suitable markers to determine the precise localization of melanin in the epidermis have been reported. In this study, we showed that melanocore-interacting Kif1c-tail (M-INK), a recently developed fluorescent probe for visualizing mature melanosomes, binds to purified melanin in vitro, and applied it for detecting melanin in human skin tissues. Frozen skin sections from different phot

SUBMITTER: Yoshikawa-Murakami C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7697890 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature