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Localization of melanin synthesis within the pigment cell: Determination by a combination of electron microscopic autoradiography and topographic planimetry

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Summary

Localization of melanin synthesis within the pigment cells of the Cloudman S-91 mouse melanoma was determined by means of a combination of high resolution autoradiography and topographic planimetry. Initial melanin biosynthesis occurred predominantly in the endoplasmic reticulum and associated ribonucleoprotein particles of the melanocytes. By measuring a number of cell organelles and employing the index of “relative specific localization” it could be shown that the nucleus and mitochondria are of little or no importance in the process of melanogenesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Herbert M. Hirsch, Alvin S. Zelickson & J. Francis Hartmann

  2. Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Herbert M. Hirsch, Alvin S. Zelickson & J. Francis Hartmann

  3. Department of Anatomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Herbert M. Hirsch, Alvin S. Zelickson & J. Francis Hartmann

Authors
  1. Herbert M. Hirsch
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  2. Alvin S. Zelickson
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  3. J. Francis Hartmann
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Additional information

This investigation has been supported by the following research grants: CA 06548 CB, NIH, PHS and an Institutional Grant from the American Cancer Society (to H. M. H.); CA-05887, NIH, PHS (to A. S. Z.); M-00388 and NB-00782, NIH, PHS (to J. F. H.). One of us (H. M. H.) holds a Research Cancer Development Award (5-K 3-GM-2634) of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Public Health Service.

We are grateful to Mr. Ronald Abler for his help with the topographic measurements; to Dr. Erhard Haus for help and advice; to Mr. J. Thornby and Mr. A. P. Basu for assistance with the statistical aspects of this study; and to Mrs. Lenore Mottaz, Miss Bernice Uittenbogaard, and Mrs. Judith Strong for careful technical assistance.

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Hirsch, H.M., Zelickson, A.S. & Hartmann, J.F. Localization of melanin synthesis within the pigment cell: Determination by a combination of electron microscopic autoradiography and topographic planimetry. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 65, 409–419 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345640

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345640

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