Pigment Cells: Not Just Pretty Colors

If you’ve ever visited an aquarium or snorkeled along a coral reef, you’ve witnessed the dazzling colors and patterns on tropical fish. The iridescent stripes and dots come from pigment cells, which also tint skin, hair and eyes in all kinds of animals, including humans. Typically, bright colors help attract mates, while dull ones provide camouflage. In humans, pigment helps protect skin from DNA-damaging UV light.

Researchers study cellular hues not only to decipher how they color our world, but also to understand skin cancers that originate from pigment cells. Some of these researchers work their way back, developmentally speaking, to focus on the type of cell, known as a neural crest cell, that is the precursor of pigment cells.

Present at the earliest stages of development, neural crest cells migrate throughout an embryo and transform into many different types of cells and tissues, including nerve cells, cartilage, bone and skin. The images here, from research on neural crest cells in fish and salamanders, showcase the beauty and versatility of pigment cells in nature’s palette.

Pigment cells called xanthophores, shown here in the skin of the popular laboratory animal zebrafish, glow brightly under light. Credit: David Parichy, University of Washington.

Dark pigment cells, called melanocytes, like these in pearl danio, a tropical minnow and relative of zebrafish, assemble in skin patterns that allow the animals to blend into their surroundings or attract mates. Credit: David Parichy, University of Washington.

Pigment cells can form all sorts of patterns, like these stripes on the fin of pearl danio. Credit: David Parichy, University of Washington.

Pigment cells arise from neural crest cells. Here, pigment cells can be seen migrating in the skin of a salamander where they will form distinct color patterns. Credit: David Parichy, University of Washington.

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