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Melanocytes are stained with
Answers
Melanocytes are stained black after l-DOPA incubation. l-DOPA positive staining confirms the presence of DOPA oxidase (tyrosinase) activity in the melanosomes (Munoz–Munoz et al
Answer:
Melanocytes are stained black after l-DOPA incubation. l-DOPA positive staining confirms the presence of DOPA oxidase (tyrosinase) activity in the melanosomes (Munoz–Munoz et al. 2010), and is used to positively identify melanocytes, as following protease digestion, melanocytes are the only DOPA oxidase-positive cells in the epidemis. The S-100 proteins are widely distributed in cells of neural crest origin and tumor cells. The observation of positive staining using both l-DOPA and S-100 proves that the cells we cultured were melanocytes (Petersson et al. 2009). Tyrosinase (TYR) and tyrosinase-related proteins-1 and -2 (TRP-1 and TRP-2) are related enzymes expressed in melanocytes and involved in melanin synthesis, which can also be used to identify melanocytes. The expression of TRP-1 is closely related to melanin synthesis and abnormal proliferation of melanocytes (Kedlaya et al. 2011).
At present, the in vitro culture of melanocytes has been widely used in the laboratory and clinical research of a variety of pigmentation diseases, such as post-traumatic pigmentation, depigmentation and acquired pigmentation disorders, such as melasma, senile plaques and vitiligo. In vitro melanocyte cultures are also used to study the etiology and pathology of malignant melanoma, and for studies examining the efficacy and toxicity of pigmentation removal drugs (Kumar et al. 2012). Cultured melanocytes have also been used in transplantations as a treatment for vitiligo (Chen et al. 2000). The research of melanocytes stem cells has made important progress (Davids et al. 2009).