The Kit-Ligand (Steel Factor) and Its Receptor C-Kit. Insights from Germline Mutations.

Abstract

Mutations at the murine white spotting and the steel loci generate deficiencies in three cell systems: the pigmentary system, germ cells and hematopoiesis during embryogenesis and in the adult animal [for reviews see Refs. 1-3]. During normal development melanoblasts arise from the neural crest, migrate to the periphery, enter the epidermal ectoderm and colonize hair follicles. W and Sl mutations affect several aspects of melanogenesis causing varying degrees of white spotting. Primordial germ cells migrate from the base of the allantois to the genital ridges, and spermatogenesis and oogenesis then proceed following well known developmental programs.