In Vitro Differentiation of Melanocyte Stem Cells Derived from Vitiligo Patients into Functional Melanocytes

    April 2024 in “ The Indonesian Biomedical Journal ”
    Manchi Vathsalya, Shricharith Shetty, N. Suchetha Shetty, Veena Shetty, Veena Shetty, Sunil Kumar Yeshwanth, Prakash Patil, Mohana Kumar Basavarajappa
    TLDR Melanocyte stem cells from non-affected skin in vitiligo patients can become functional melanocytes for potential therapy.
    The study investigated the potential of melanocyte stem cells (MelSCs) from vitiligo patients to differentiate into functional melanocytes for cellular therapy. MelSCs from both vitiliginous and non-vitiliginous regions, as well as from control subjects, were cultured and induced into melanocytes (iMCs) using melanogenic factors. The iMCs showed morphological changes, expressed key melanogenic genes, and had an average intracellular melanin content of 30 pg/cell. Notably, non-vitiliginous MelSCs (NV-MelSCs) were unaffected by the disease and successfully differentiated into melanocytes, suggesting their potential use in autologous cellular transplantation for vitiligo repigmentation therapy.
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