This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kincannon, J.
Right arrow Articles by Boutzale, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kincannon, J.
Right arrow Articles by Boutzale, C.
Related Collections
Right arrow Endocrinology

PEDIATRICS Vol. 104 No. 4 Supplement October 1999, pp. 1042-1045

The Physiology of Pigmented Nevi

Received May 13, 1999; accepted Jun 22, 1999.

Jay Kincannon and Christine Boutzale

From the Department of Pediatric Dermatology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells derived from the neural crest. These specialized exocrine cells produce melanin, which is packaged and dispersed to neighboring keratinocytes in organelles called melanosomes. Within the melanocyte, tyrosine is converted to dopa, and then dopaquinone via the bifunctional enzyme tyrosinase. Dopaquinone is oxidized further to form the pigment melanin. Each epidermal melanocyte secretes melanosomes to approximately 36 adjacent keratinocytes, forming an epidermal melanin unit. Genetically programmed constitutive skin color is determined by the amount of cutaneous melanin pigmentation.

The common mole or acquired melanocytic nevus (AMN) is a collection of nevomelanocytes grouped into nests located in the epidermis (junctional nevus), dermis (dermal nevus), or both (compound nevus). It is hypothesized that nevomelanocytes are derived from either epidermal melanoblasts or dermal Schwann cells. AMN first appear at ~1 year of age, peaking in number during the second or third decades of life, and disappearing by the seventh to ninth decades. AMN may appear suddenly or become more prominent in response to sun exposure, cortisone and corticotropin, blistering diseases, chemotherapy, immunosuppression, and other factors that are not well-defined. Reports of AMN increasing in size and darkening in color during puberty and pregnancy have been reported but not quantitated systematically.melanocytes, keratinocytes, acquired melanocytic nevi.

.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 NeurologyHome page
R. Inzelberg and J. Jankovic
Are Parkinson disease patients protected from some but not all cancers?
Neurology, October 9, 2007; 69(15): 1542 - 1550.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch DermatolHome page
R. P. Dellavalle, E. J. Hester, D. L. Stegner, A. M. Deas, T. R. Pacheco, S. Mokrohisky, J. G. Morelli, and L. A. Crane
Is High Mole Count a Marker of More Than Melanoma Risk?: Eczema Diagnosis Is Associated With Melanocytic Nevi in Children
Arch Dermatol, May 1, 2004; 140(5): 577 - 580.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]