Hypermorphic

Hypermorphic refers to mutations in the gene that result in an increase of gene expression. Therefore, hypermorphic alleles result in hyper-pigmentation as described in the paper.

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Prostaglandin

Prostaglandin are a group of fatty acids that act as hormones in the body. For example, during pregnancy the contractions are stimulated by a prostaglandin.

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Hypoxic

Hypoxia refers to the condition in the body where there is a deprivation of oxygen to the tissues.

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Heterotypic

Heterotypic refers things that are different in form or type. So, heterotypic cell to cell adhesion is adhesion between two different types of cells.

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Catenin

Catenin is a type of protein in the human body that is in charge of regulation and coordination of cell to cell adhesion.

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Synergistic effects

Synergistic effects refers to an effect where the combination of both is greater than the sum of the individual parts. So the whole is greater than its individual parts.

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Irradiation

Irradiation refers to treating something with radiation, in this case UV light.

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In this experiment, skin from a human was grafted onto mice with depressed immune systems. This means a piece of human skin was transplanted onto mice who's immune systems could not protect them from diseases.

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Aberrant

Aberrant refers to something that differs from the accepted standard, so it could be something that is abnormal. For example aberrant Edn3 expression is that expression which differs from the norm.

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Melanomagenesis

Melanomagenesis efers to the development of melanoma through the multi step process of genetic mutations.

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Epigenetic

Epigenetics relates to non genetic influences on gene expression, so the way our genes are expressed can be affected by factors not encoded in the gene. For example DNA methylation is an epigenetic change that affects gene expression.

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Co-cultured

Co-cultured refers in this case to culturing two different types of cells together. For example, the null NC cells were cultured together with the wild typeneural tube explants. This would be co-culturing.

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In this study, the cells from the neural crest of mice that carried the specific mutation Kitl were treated with endothelin 3.

Non-cutaneous

Cutaneous refers to something in the body relating to the skin. Therefore, non-cutaneous refers to something that does not have something to do with the skin. For example non-cutaneous melanocytes would be those that grow in areas not relating the the skin.

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Melanoblasts

Melanoblasts are precursors to melanocytes. So, they are the cells that come before the melanocytes.

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This study was done on the neural crests taken from murine cultures, so it is also an in vitro study of the effects of endothelin on the development on melanocytes but this time on a different species.

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Induces

Induce refers to the production or promoting of something. So if the Edn3 induces proliferation, it brings about proliferation.

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The study described here consisted of treating quail (type of bird) neural crest cultures with Edn3. This study was in vitro, meaning the embryonic neural crest was removed and treated outside of the organism. This study showed the role that Edn3 plays in development as stated in the paper.

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Sciatic nerve

The sciatic nerve is a long nerve in the body that runs from the bottom of the spine to the back of the leg and above the knee joint.

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Transdifferentiate

Transdifferentiation is when a cell, other than a stem cell, differentiates into a different type of cell

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Contact Inhibition

Contact inhibition is a process in the body that regulates cell growth. For example, when the cells come in contact with each other, its a sign that its time to stop growing, hence the name contact inhibition.

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in vitro

in vitro refers to a study that took place outside of the living organism, so in a test tube or culture dish, etc. The opposite would be an in vivo experiment that takes pace inside the organism.

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Dorsolateral

A dorsolateral pathway is one that is on the dorsal and lateral surfaces. Lateral refers to something away from the mid line of the body and dorsal refers to the upper back of an animal.

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Chemotactic

A chemotactic response is a response to a chemical stimulus that results in the movement of the body.

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Endogenous

Endogenous refers to something that originates from within an organism, or something that has an internal cause or origin. A promoter that is endogenous originates from within.

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Aganglionosis

Aganglionosis is characteristic in megacolon and it means that there are no ganglia present. Ganglia, or ganglion cells, are a type of nerve cell responsible for moving food in the colon. As a result, their absence can lead to constipation.

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Megacolon

Megacolon is an abnormal dilation of the colon. So, the colon widens and oftentimes the movement of the bowels can stop.

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Melanogenic

Melanin is the skin-darkening pigment produced in melanocytes. Therefore, melanogenic refers to a melanocytes ability to produce melanin. If a substance is melanogenic it stimulates a cell to produce melanin.

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Mitogenic

Mitogenic refers to stimulating a cell to start dividing through mitosis. For example, a mitogen is a chemical that stimulates division in a cell, so it has mitogenic properties.

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Kinases

A kinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to a desired molecule. For example, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase is in charge of transferring a phosphate group from ATP to tyrosine in proteins. Tyrosine is one of the 20 amino acids found in proteins.

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Adenyl cyclase

An enzyme that is in charge of catalyzing the formation of cyclic AMP into ATP. To catalyze means to increase the rate of the reaction, so this enzymes speeds up the rate at which ATP is produced from cyclic AMP. ATP is the energy molecule of the body.

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Phospholipase

Phospholipase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes, or breaks down, phospholipids into fatty acids. There are four types of these enzymes: A, B, C, and D.

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Cardiomyocytes

Cardiomyocytes are cardiac muscle cells.For example, the heart is made up of cardiac muscle, and thus these cells.

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Heterotrimetic

Refers to a macromolecule that is made up of at least three subunits where one of the subunits of the molecule differs from the other two. A G-Protein is an example, because it is made up of an alpha, beta, and gamma subunits.

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G-Protein Coupled Receptors

G-Protein Coupled Receptors are located in the cell membrane of eukaryotes. Their function is to receive signals from the outside, that will then produce a cellular response. There are many different types of these receptors talked about in the paper.

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Paracrine Factors

Paracrine Factors are produced by certain cells in order to communicate with adjacent cells around them. They are a form of signaling between cells to alter the behavior of cells around them.

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Antagonist

A receptor antagonist functions by blocking a biological response by binding to the receptor that would have previously stimulated this response. For example, for the endothilin receptor type b (Ednrb) discussed in this paper, an antagonist would bind to it and block the response that would have been produced originally. So they function as biological blockers.

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Metastases

Metastases refers to when a malignant tumor grows at a site away from the original site. For example, if you say that lung cancer metastasized to the liver it means that the lung cancer is now also found in the liver. It developed at a site away from the original, in this case from the lungs to the liver.

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Differentiation

In cells, differentiation refers to a cell that is less specialized becoming more specialized. This occurs during development, so a melanocyte differentiation is when developing cells specialize into melanocytes.

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Precursor

A precursor is something that happens before something else. So in terms of biology it refers to a cell or tissue that will give rise to another cell or tissue that is more specialized, or mature. In this paper, a melanocyte precursor are cells that came before and will differentiate into melanocytes.

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Melanocytes

Melanocytes are skin cells that produce the pigment melanin. Melanin is the skin darkening pigment that is known for protecting the skin from harmful rays.

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Neural Crest (NC)

The neural crest is an embryonic structure in vertebrates that gives rise to many types of cells, primarily cells of the peripheral nervous system. So during embryonic development, the neural crest differentiates and migrates to give rise to specialized cell types. They also give rise to melanocytes which will be further discussed in the paper.

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Endothelin (Edn)

Endothelin is a vasoconstrictive peptide produced in endothelial cells. Vasoconstriction means that these peptides constrict blood vessels, increasing blood pressure as a result. These peptides are composed of 21 amino acids and three are three types: endothelin 1, endothelin 2, and endothelin 3.

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