Pigment Cell Growth

Pigment Cell Biology provides information on the growth of the pigment cell throughout its life cycle. This book explains how the pigment cell synthesizes its melanin. Organized into 34 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the factors that involved in governing the unique color pattern formation for three species of salamander. This text then explores the cranial and the caudal sections of the medullary plate that contribute to the pigment development of the head and the tail of amphibians. Other chapters consider the difference in the pituitary output of black and white axolotls. This book discusses as well the slow progress in the definition of the roles of the pituitary hormones in melanogenesis. The final chapter deals with a group of pigments that are derived by oxidation from tryptophan. This book is a valuable resource for embryologists, geneticists, histologists, physiologists, cytochemists, and endocrinologists. Comparative pathologists, biophysicists, and biochemists will also find this book useful.

Pigment Cell Growth covers the proceedings of the Third Conference on the Biology of Normal and Atypical Pigment Cell Growth. The book focuses on the nature of the pigment cell and its contained melanin. The selection first offers information on the origin of the mammalian pigment cell and its role in the pigmentation of hair and relations between developing melanophores and embryonic tissues in the Mexican axolotl. The book also examines the genetic control of pigmentation in the fowl; relationship of atypical pigment cell growth to gonadal development in hybrid fishes; and estrogen, thyroid hormone, and the differentiation of pigment cells in the brown leghorn. The publication takes a look at dendritic melanoblasts in metastatic squamous cell carcinoma; microscopic analysis of normal melanoblasts, nevus cells, and melanoma cells; and analysis of skin color in living human subjects by spectrophotometric means. The selection is a dependable source of data for readers interested in pigment cell growth.

This volume covers all aspects of melanin pigmentation, providing a concise, comprehensive picture of new knowledge gained at the frontiers of research. It draws heavily on the author's 30-year activity in the field and his continuing work with specialists of widely diverse disciplines. The core of the volume deals with the structure, physicochemical properties, and biosynthesis of the major classes of melanin pigments, including neuromelanins. Further discussions include the biology of the various types of pigment-producing cells, the structure and mode of action of tyrosinase, and the chemistry of urinary melanogens and their biomedical applications as metabolic markers of melanocyte activity, especially for the follow-up of malignant melanoma. Finally, the volume considers progress in the photobiology and photochemistry of melanins, with special emphasis on the controversial role of these pigments in skin photoprotection. Melanins and Melanogenesis is ideally suited as a basic guide for newcomers, and a handy source of specific information for practitioners in academic, medical, and industrial settings.