Lahav R, Ziller C, Dupin E, Le Douarin N M
Institut d'Embryologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Nogent-sur-Marne, France.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Apr 30;93(9):3892-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.9.3892.
Mutations in the endothelin 3 (EDN3) gene severely affect the development of neural crest-derived melanocytes. In this paper, we report the action of EDN3 on neural crest cells in vitro. The presence of EDN3 leads to a large increase in the number of cells, the majority of which eventually differentiate into melanocytes that aggregate to form a reproducible pigmentation pattern. Quantitative analysis of the effect of different culture conditions revealed that EDN3 initially promotes neural crest cell proliferation. This phase of expansion, which can be prolonged for a few weeks if the cells are replaced regularly, is followed by both a decrease in cell proliferation and the onset of melanocytic differentiation. Therefore, EDN3 is a potent mitogen for early neural crest cell precursors that can give rise to melanocytes.
内皮素3（EDN3）基因的突变严重影响神经嵴衍生的黑素细胞的发育。在本文中，我们报告了EDN3在体外对神经嵴细胞的作用。EDN3的存在导致细胞数量大幅增加，其中大多数最终分化为黑素细胞，聚集形成可重复的色素沉着模式。对不同培养条件影响的定量分析表明，EDN3最初促进神经嵴细胞增殖。如果定期更换细胞，这个扩张阶段可以延长几周，随后细胞增殖减少和黑素细胞分化开始。因此，EDN3是早期神经嵴细胞前体的有效促分裂原，这些前体可产生黑素细胞。
