Melanocytes in the Skin – Comparative Whole Transcriptome Analysis of Main Skin Cell Types

<div><p>Melanocytes possess several functions besides a role in pigment synthesis, but detailed characteristics of the cells are still unclear. We used whole transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) to assess differential gene expression of cultivated normal human melanocytes with respect to keratinocytes, fibroblasts and whole skin. The present results reveal cultivated melanocytes as highly proliferative cells with possible stem cell-like properties. The enhanced readiness to regenerate makes melanocytes the most vulnerable cells in the skin and explains their high risk of developing into malignant melanoma.</p></div

Comparative pathway analysis of MC and KC, FB and whole skin.

<p>Red plots indicate pathways, which were prominently expressed in MC. Blue plots mark pathways, which were downregulated in MC (A, B, C) and concomitantly upregulated in the whole skin (A), KC (B) and FB (C), respectively. The word sizes in wordclouds are defined by the p-values.</p

Uniquely expressed genes in MC.

<p>The list of genes, expressed in MC, but not in KC and FB.</p><p>Uniquely expressed genes in MC.</p

The number of differentially expressed genes in each study group - melanocyte (MC), keratinocyte (KC), fibroblast (FB) and whole skin (Skin).

<p>Red triangles – upregulated genes, blue triangles – downregulated genes.</p

The number of detected and uniquely expressed genes.

<p>The number of detected and uniquely expressed genes.</p