Gene Expression data for melanocyte stem cells and melanoblasts isolated from the skin of wild-type mice and B-raf and C-raf double knock-out mice. Mus musculus

Melanocyte are melanin-producing cells located in the bottom layer of the skin's epidermis and in the hair follicle. Melanin is the pigment primarily responsible notably for skin and hair color. Our team had previously shown a role for B-raf and C-raf genes in the maintenance of melanocyte stem cells located in mice hair follicle (Valluet et al, 2012). The aim of the present project was to understand the role of B-RAF and C-RAF kinases in melanocyte stem cell self-renewal. To reach this goal, we have generated a new mouse model in which cells of the melanocyte lineage can be followed by GFP expression. We performed gene array on melanocyte stem cell B-raf+/+; C-raf+/+ and B-raf-/-; C-raf-/-in order to identify the RAF kinases target genes which are involved in melanocyte stem cell self-renewal. Moreover, to better characterize the melanocyte stem cell population, we compared its gene expression profile to the melanoblast one (melanocyte stem cell's progenitors). Overall design: gene expression of melanoblats from the skin of 4-day old mice (2 replicates fom 2 different animals) were compared to the gene signature of melanocyte stem cells from the skin of 21-day old mice (2 replicates from 2 mice). In parallel, gene expression of melanocyte stem cell B-raf-/-;C-raf-/- and B-raf +/+;C-raf +/+ were compared to identify genes involved in melanocyte stem cell maintenance.