Involvement of melanocortin-1 receptor in the hyperpigmentation of human skin autografts |
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Authors: | Xue Chun-Yu Dai Hai-Ying Li Li Xing Xin |
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Institution: | Department of Plastic Surgery, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. |
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Abstract: | Hyperpigmentation frequently occurs in human skin autografts resulting in an unsatisfactory appearance. This study aimed to elucidate the role of melanocortin-1 receptor in the hyperpigmentation process of skin autografts by analyzing the expression of melanocortin-1 receptor. The data were correlated with the amount of melanin in autografted human skin and normal skin determined in a previous study. Immunohistochemistry, western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were carried out to detect the expression and distribution of melanocortin-1 receptor in skin autografts including full-thickness skin autografts, split-thickness skin autografts and normal full-thickness skin. Fontana-Masson stain was used to detect melanin in all types of skin specimens. The expression level of melanocortin-1 receptor in autografted skin was much higher than that in control normal skin, and thinner split-thickness skin autografts had higher levels of expression of melanocortin-1 receptor than thicker grafts. The amount of melanin in skin autografts was significantly increased compared with normal skin. The expression of melanocortin-1 receptor correlated well with the amount of melanin in the epidermis of skin autografts. These results indicate that melanogenesis is dramatically enhanced in skin autografts by the melanocortin-1 receptor, and suggest that overexpression of melanocortin-1 receptor may play an important role in the hyperpigmented process of skin autografts. This study provides a novel mechanism for hyperpigmentation in skin autografts. |
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Keywords: | hyperpigmentation melanocortin‐1 receptor melanocyte melanogenesis skin autografts |
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