Molecular mechanisms for mammalian melanogenesis

Mechanisms regulating melanogenesis*

Skin pigmentation is an important human phenotypic trait whose regulation, in spite of recent advances, has not yet been fully understood. The pigment melanin is produced in melanosomes by melanocytes in a complex process called melanogenesis. The melanocyte interacts with endocrine, immune, inflammatory and central nervous systems, and its activity is also regulated by extrinsic factors such a...

Some physiological genetic aspects of mammalian melanogenesis.

During the past several years we have been studying a number of melanogenic attributes using the skins of house mice afflicted by various types of genetic damage (Foster, 1956, 1959; Foster and Thomson, 1958). Our most recent study (Foster and Thomson, 1961, and unpublished data) involves a closer scrutiny of the effects of allelic interactions at a specific locus, b (brown). Briefly, by means ...

a search for cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in harmful algal bloom, cochlodinium polykrikoides induced mammalian hepatotoxicity

possible molecular mechanisms for paramecium learning

learning is a cornerstone of intelligent behavior in animals. this behavior has been mostly studied in organisms with a fairly complex nervous system. however, recent reports of learning in unicellular organisms suggested the existence of associative learning in unicellular organisms. in particular, the capability to associate different light intensities with cathodal stimulation in paramecium ...

Molecular mechanisms of sound amplification in the mammalian cochlea.

Mammalian hearing depends on the enhanced mechanical properties of the basilar membrane within the cochlear duct. The enhancement arises through the action of outer hair cells that act like force generators within the organ of Corti. Simple considerations show that underlying mechanism of somatic motility depends on local area changes within the lateral membrane of the cell. The molecular basis...