Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0312414 (Spotting)
 88 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The Wv mutation lies in the kinase domain of the proto-oncogene c-kit which is expressed in a variety of cells including neural crest derived melanoblasts. The mutation results in the abnormal migration, proliferation, survival and/or differentiation of melanoblasts. Viable Dominant Spotting (Wv/Wv) mouse mutants have a white coat due to the absence of melanocytes. The majority of these animals have no melanocytes within the stria vascularis and no endocochlear potential (EP). A proportion of homozygous mutants partially escape the effects of the mutation: 47.2% of pinnae and 21% of vestibular regions were pigmented and 10.8% of ears had an EP. All ears with an EP that were available for histology had some pigmentation of the stria. There was no obvious correlation between external and internal spotting in Wv/Wv mice, and asymmetrical pigmentation of the ears was common. Both light and dark intermediate cells (which are derived from melanocytes) were present in the middle and/or basal turns of these cochlear ducts and they appeared to function normally in enabling the stria to produce an EP (although the EP was usually lower than normal). This suggests that the c-kit gene product is needed only during development of the stria, and not for mature melanocyte function because the melanocytes present in the mutant strias were carrying the mutant version of the c-kit gene. Melanocytes were similar in appearance in controls and mutants, except that fewer melanin granules were observed in the strias of Wv/Wv mice. The observations that strial melanocytes with very few melanin granules in Wv/Wv mutants are able to support EP production, together with previous observations that albino animals with strial melanocytes but no melanin have a normal EP, suggest that melanocytes but not melanin are essential for normal strial function.
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PMID:Characteristics of stria vascularis melanocytes of viable dominant spotting (Wv/Wv) mouse mutants. 149 Sep 1

Germline mutations at the Dominant White Spotting (W) and Steel (Sl) loci have provided conclusive genetic evidence that c-kit mediated signal transduction pathways are essential for normal mouse development. We have analysed the interactions of normal and mutant W/c-kit gene products with cytoplasmic signalling proteins, using transient c-kit expression assays in COS cells. In addition to the previously identified c-kit gene product (Kit+), a second normal Kit isoform (KitA+) containing an in-frame insertion, Gly-Asn-Asn-Lys, within the extracellular domain, was detected in murine mast cell cultures and mid-gestation placenta. Both Kit+ and KitA+ isoforms showed increased autophosphorylation and enhanced association with phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3' kinase and PLC gamma 1, when stimulated with recombinant soluble Steel factor. No association or increase in phosphorylation of GAP and two GAP-associated proteins, p62 and p190, was observed. The two isoforms had distinct activities in the absence of exogenous soluble Steel factor; Kit+, but not KitA+, showed constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation that was accompanied by a low constitutive level of association with PI-3' kinase and PLC gamma 1. Introduction of the point substitutions associated with W37 (Glu582----Lys) or W41 (Val831----Met) mutant alleles into c-kit expression constructs abolished (W37) or reduced (W41) the Steel factor-induced association of the Kit receptor with signalling proteins in a manner proportional to the overall severity of the corresponding W mutant phenotype. These data suggest a diversity of normal Kit signalling pathways and indicate that W mutant phenotypes result from primary defects in the Kit receptor that affect its interaction with cytoplasmic signalling proteins.
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PMID:Signal transduction by normal isoforms and W mutant variants of the Kit receptor tyrosine kinase. 171 77

Despite the importance of germ cells to the survival of species, surprisingly little is known about their embryological origin, proliferation, migration and entry into mitotic arrest or meiosis. Mutations in the murine Dominant White Spotting (W) and Steel genes, which respectively encode the c-kit tyrosine kinase receptor and the c-kit ligand (or Steel factor), impair the development of primordial germ cells (PGCs) in vivo, as well as haematopoietic stem cells and neural crest-derived melanoblasts. Here we use a monoclonal antibody against c-kit tyrosine kinase receptor and recombinant Steel factor to study the c-kit receptor-ligand system in cultured PGCs. In addition, we show that leukaemia inhibitory factor (also known as differentiation inhibitory activity), a factor secreted by STO fibroblasts, can stimulate proliferation of primordial germ cells in vitro.
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PMID:Effect of Steel factor and leukaemia inhibitory factor on murine primordial germ cells in culture. 171 21

The c-kit receptor and its recently identified ligand are allelic with the murine White Spotting and Steel loci, respectively. These observations brought to light the functions of the c-kit receptor system in melanogenesis, gametogenesis and hematopoeisis during embryogenesis and in postnatal life. The recent molecular analysis of several White Spotting and Steel alleles has provided insights into the mechanism of c-kit ligand-mediated processes, including cell proliferation, cell migration and cell survival. Furthermore, the availability of the kit ligand has allowed in vitro investigations of the pleiotropic functions of c-kit in development and cell differentiation to be carried out.
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PMID:The kit ligand encoded at the murine Steel locus: a pleiotropic growth and differentiation factor. 172 43

Mouse strains carrying mutations at the Dominant White Spotting (W) locus or the Steel (Sl) locus are anemic and display defects in pigmentation and gametogenesis. In W mutants the anemia is due to a deficiency of hemopoietic stem cells and, in Sl mutants, to a deficiency of supporting stromal cells in the bone marrow. The W locus encodes the c-kit proto-oncogene product, a cell surface receptor with protein-tyrosine kinase activity, and the Sl locus encodes its ligand, a hemopoietic cytokine known variously as Steel factor (SLF), mast cell growth factor, stem cell factor, and Kit ligand. SLF can synergize with a number of other cytokines to stimulate growth of hemopoietic progenitors in vitro and stimulates blood cell production in vivo in animals. Here we review the biological activities of SLF, with particular emphasis on its effects on hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells. We also discuss present knowledge of the molecules involved in SLF-triggered signal transduction, and speculate on potential therapeutic applications for SLF in human disease.
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PMID:The kit receptor and its ligand, steel factor, as regulators of hemopoiesis. 172 56

The W locus encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor, c-kit, which affects survival of melanoblasts from the neural crest. The primary cochlear defect in Viable Dominant Spotting (Wv/Wv) mutants is a lack of melanocytes within the stria vascularis (SV) associated with an endocochlear potential (EP) close to zero and hearing impairment. In this study, we compare inner ear pigmentation with cochlear potentials in three other W alleles (Wx, Wsh, and W41) and reveal an unequivocal correlation between presence of strial melanocytes and presence of an EP. Asymmetry was common, and 8.3% of Wsh/Wx, 25% of Wsh/Wsh, 60% of W41/Wx, and 69.2% of W41/W41 ears had a pigmented stria and an EP, while the remainder had no strial melanocytes and no EP. In those mutants that partially escaped the effects of the mutation, strial melanocytes rarely extended the entire length of the stria, but were confined to the middle and/or basal turns of the cochlea. The extent of strial pigmentation was unrelated to the EP value, which was measured from the basal turn only. Compound action potential (CAP) responses recorded from ears with an EP were variable and they showed greatly raised thresholds or were absent in all ears where the EP was close to zero. In controls, melanocytes in the vestibular part of the ear were found in the utricle, crus commune, and ampullae, whereas in many mutants only one or two of these regions were pigmented. There was a broad correlation between pigmentation of the stria and pigmentation of the vestibular region but this was not absolute. All W41/Wx, Wsh/Wsh, and W41/W41 mutants had some pigment on the pinna but, in contrast to controls where melanocytes were found in the epidermis and dermis of the pinna, pigment cells were reduced in number and generally restricted to the dermis. Injection of normal neural crest cells into 9.5-day-old mutant embryos increased the extent of skin pigmentation on the head and coat of adult chimeras and was associated with a small increase in the proportion of pigmented strias.
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PMID:Effects of mutations at the W locus (c-kit) on inner ear pigmentation and function in the mouse. 752 Oct 50

Mutations within the Steel and Dominant Spotting loci of mice have led to the recent identification of a growth factor/receptor system required for the normal development of germ cells, pigment cells and hematopoietic cells. Interactions between the products of these genes, Steel factor and c-Kit respectively, have now been demonstrated to influence various developmental processes, including survival, proliferation, and/or differentiation of cells in a tissue specific manner. In addition, our current understanding of the molecular basis of various Steel and Dominant Spotting alleles coupled with the emerging information on the expression pattern of steel factor and c-kit transcripts during development, is now beginning to explain the pleiotropic affects of these mutations.
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PMID:Steel factor and c-kit receptor: from mutants to a growth factor system. 768 13

The KIT proto-oncogene encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor which plays a critical role in haemopoiesis. We have screened genomic DNA from bone marrow mononuclear cells of 46 patients with myelodysplasia (MDS) for mutations/deletions of exons 6, 13, 17, and 21 of the KIT gene (stem cell factor receptor) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and autoradiography to detect single-stranded conformational polymorphisms (SSCP). These exons include positions analogous to those mutated in the FMS gene (colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor) in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and mutated/deleted in the Dominant White Spotting mouse (W locus) which results in macrocytic anaemia. Two different gel running conditions were used for each exon. Polymorphisms were identified only at 4 degrees C in exon 17 (three out of 44 MDS samples and two of 21 DNA samples from normal subjects), and in the non-coding region of exon 21 (five out of 34 MDS samples and seven out of 19 normals). Direct sequencing identified a G to A base change at nucleotide 3169 within exon 21, and a C to T change at position 2415 in exon 17. No conformational changes suggestive of mutations or deletions have been found to date, although we cannot rule out low frequency clonal abnormalities undetectable by our method, which has a sensitivity in our hands of approximately 5%. Polymorphisms occur frequently in the KIT gene. Together with this study, a total of five have been described.
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PMID:Two new polymorphisms but no mutations of the KIT gene in patients with myelodysplasia at positions corresponding to human FMS and murine W locus mutational hot spots. 769 8