Melanocytes neural crest-derived

Porter, S. )., and Meyer, C. J. (1994). A distal tyrosinase upstream element stimulates gene expression in neural-crest-derived melanocytes of transgenic mice position-independent and mosaic expression. Development 120 2103-2111. 

It is these exceptions which suggest that there are regional differences in the composition of the crest along its rostral-caudal axis. The cephalic regions of the crest appear to have the potential to give rise to all neural crest derivatives, whereas the trunk crest is restricted to PNS and melanocytic derivatives. This restriction may apply only after a particular developmental stage, as Lumsden has found that trunk neural crest cells from the mouse can participate in tooth formation when combined with mandibular epithelium (Lumsden, 1987,... 

Morrison-Graham, K, and Weston, J.A. (1993) Transient Steel factor dependence by neural crest-derived melanocyte precursors. Dev. Biol. 159 346-352. 

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) acts intracel-lularly to cause the transdifferentiation of avian neural crest-derived Schwann cell precursors into melanocytes. 

Although melanocytes are derived developmentally from the neural crest, the neural influence on human skin pigmentation is not clearly understood (752). According to some authors, vitiligo results from an increase in activity of the peripheral nerve endings in the skin (24). Neural influences of pigmentation have also been noticed in lower vertebrates where skin color changes rapidly (702, 194). 

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