Analysis of the melanin-transfer by ex vivo live imaging in a skin of chicken embryo.

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Melanin granules are produced in melanocytes, and are eventually transferred to the neighboring keratinocytes during skin pigmentation. So far we have succeeded in direct visualization of melanin-transfer by live imaging analyses using a skin tissue of chicken embryos cultured ex vivo. Melanin granules are transferred to the keratinocytes via the membrane vesicles. In this study, we understood the mechanisms underlying processes of the melanin-transfer : 1) vesicle budding(membrane blebbing), 2) vesicle release from the melanocytes, and 3) uptake of membrane vesicles by the keratinocytes.