Bennett-Sviderskaya Laboratory
Dorothy C Bennett,
Professor of Cell Biology |
Elena V Sviderskaya |
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Looking for our cell lines? - See Wellcome Trust Functional Genomics Cell Bank
Looking for cell culture methods? See Materials and Methods used in melanocyte culture
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Current group members Our research interests Current research projects
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Shyamal Amin (Research Student)
Jaskaren Kohli (Research Student)
Jo Castle (Research Student)
Philip Goff (Research Assistant)
Alison Clarke (MRes Student)
Sweta Chandel (Project Student)
Victoria Josee Ekwalla (Project Student)
Neelam Ghous (Project Student)
Omar Khalil (Project Student)
Charlene Orio (Project Student)
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The melanocyte, or pigment cell. (Available in a range of pleasing, natural colours, including gold if you count fish.)
- Its cancer - malignant melanoma. (Not pleasing; a common, highly malignant and rapidly progressing disease.) Molecular genetics of melanoma.
- The role of cell senescence and immortalization in melanoma development and therapy, and in ageing.
- Cell senescence and wound healing: possible therapeutic applications.
- Genetics of melanocytes. Pigmentation is an attractive and accessible system for genetic study; for example over 350 genetic loci required for normal pigmentation are known in the mouse. The molecular, cellular and genetic basis of pigmentary defects, like vitiligo and Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome.
- Development of melanocytes. Characterization of the developmental precursors of melanocytes: melanoblasts and stem cells. Analysis and control of gene expression during differentiation.
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Melanocyte senescence and immortalization: relations to genetics and progression in cutaneous malignant melanoma
The therapeutic potential of cell senescence pathways
Molecular genetics of pigmentation in mice and humans
Control of differentiation and determination of immortal mouse neural crest-like stem cell lines
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The Wellcome Trust Functional Genomics Cell Bank :
Our research group maintains the Wellcome Trust Functional Genomics Cell Bank, Director Dr Elena Sviderskaya.
The bank holds over 250 immortal lines of mammalian cells of various types, including:
- 7 lines of mouse melanoblasts, and
- around 40 lines of human melanoma cells from various stages of melanoma progression.
- 4 lines/10 sublines of immortalized normal human melanocytes
Many of these are freely available to researchers on request, with some restrictions on unpublished lines and lines obtained from other laboratories.
Most frequently requested line:
melan-a a/a (nonagouti, black) mouse melanocytes, from C57BL/6 mice.
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Recent group publications (from 2012):
Rae J, A Viros, R Hayward, DC Bennett, N Dhomen, BJ Longley, JS Reis-Filho & R Marais (2012). (V600E)Braf::Tyr-CreERT2::K14-Kitl mice do not develop superficial spreading-like melanoma: keratinocyte Kit ligand is insufficient to "translocate" (V600E)Braf-driven melanoma to the epidermis. J. Inv. Dermatol. 132 , 488-491.
Huang Z-M, M Chinen, P Chang, T Xie, L Zhong, S Demetriou, MP Patel, R Scherzer, EV Sviderskaya, DC Bennett, G Millhauser, DH Oh, JE Cleaver & ML Wei (2012). Targeting protein-trafficking pathways alters melanoma treatment sensitivity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 109 , 553-558.
Cairney CJ, AE Bilsland, TRJ Evans, J Roffey, DC Bennett, M Narita, CJ Torrance & WN Keith (2012). Cancer cell senescence: a new frontier in drug development. Drug Discovery Today 17, 269-76.
Jin Y, SA Birlea, PR Fain, TM Ferrara, S Ben, SL Riccardi, JB Cole, K Gowan, PJ Holland, DC Bennett , RM Luiten, A Wolkerstorfer, JP Wietze van der Veen, A Hartmann, S Eichner, G Schuler, N van Geel, J Lambert, EH Kemp, DJ Gawkrodger, AP Weetman, A Taïeb, T Jouary, K Ezzedine, MR Wallace, WT McCormack, M Picardo, G Leone, A Overbeck, NB Silverberg & RA Spritz (2012). Genome-wide association analyses identify 13 new susceptibility loci for generalized vitiligo. Nature Genet. 44, 676-681.
Sitaram A, MK Dennis, R Chaudhuri, W De Jesus-Rojas, D Tenza, S Gangi Setty, CS Wood, EV Sviderskaya, DC Bennett, G Raposo, JS Bonifacino & MS Marks (2012). Differential recognition of a dileucine-based sorting signal by AP-1 and AP-3 reveals a requirement for both BLOC-1 and AP-3 in delivery of OCA2 to melanosomes. Mol. Biol. Cell 23 , 3178-3192 .
MacKenzie Ross AD, MG Cook, H Chong, M Hossain, HS Pandha & DC Bennett (2013). Senescence evasion in melanoma progression: uncoupling of DNA-damage signaling from p53 activation and p21 expression . Pigm. Cell Melanoma Res. 26, 226-235.
Nemlich Y, E Greenberg, R Ortenberg, MJ Besser, I Barshack, J Jacob-Hirsch, E Jacoby, E Eyal, L Rivkin, VG Prieto, N Chakravarti, L Duncan , DM Kallenberg, E Galun, DC Bennett, N Amariglio, M Bar-Eli, J Schachter, G Rechavi & G Markel (2013). MicroRNA-mediated loss of ADAR1 in metastatic melanoma promotes malignancy. J. Clin. Inv. 123, 2703-2718.
Lu M, H Breyssens, V Salter, S Zhong, Y Hu, C Baer, I Ratnayaka, A Sullivan, NR Brown, J Endicott, S Knapp, BM Kessler, MR Middleton, C Siebold, EY Jones, EV Sviderskaya, J Cebon, T John, OL Caballero, CR Goding & X Lu (2013). Restoring p53 function in human melanoma cells by Inhibiting MDM2 and Cyclin B1/CDK1-phosphorylated nuclear iASPP. Cancer Cell 23, 618-633.
Sadaie M, R Salama, T Carroll, K Tomimatsu, T Chandra, ARJ Young, M Narita, PA Pérez-Mancera, DC Bennett, H Chong, H Kimura & M Narita (2013). Redistribution of the Lamin B1 genomic binding profile affects rearrangement of heterochromatic domains and SAHF formation during senescence. Genes Dev. 27 , 1800-1808.
Lobos-Gonzalez L, L Aguilar, JG Fernandez, N Muñoz, M Hossain, S Bieneck, V Silva, V Burzio, EV Sviderskaya, DC Bennett, L Leyton, AFG Quest (2014). Caveolin-1 is a risk factor for post-surgery metastasis in preclinical melanoma models. Melanoma Res. 24, 108-119.
Falletta P, P Bagnato, M Bono, M Monticone, MV Schiaffino, DC Bennett, CR Goding, C Tacchetti & C Valetti (2014). Melanosome-autonomous regulation of size and number: The OA1 receptor sustains PMEL expression. Pigm. Cell Melanoma Res 27 , 565-579 .
Godwin LS, JT Castle, JS Kohli, PS Goff, CJ Cairney, WN Keith, EV Sviderskaya & DC Bennett (2014). Isolation, culture and transfection of melanocytes. Curr. Protocols Cell Biol. 63 , 1.8.1-1.8.20.
Muinonen-Martin AJ, Q Zhang, W Faller, C Moyes, A Drummond, O Susanto, D Veltman, G Kalna, C Lindsay, DC Bennett, OJ Sansom, R Herd, R Jones, LM Machesky, MJO Wakelam, DA Knecht & RH Insall (2014). Melanoma cells make LPA gradients that drive their chemotactic dispersal and invasion. PLoS Biol. 12 :e1001966. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001966.
Evans RD, C Robinson, DA Briggs, DJ Tooth, JS Ramalho, L Montoliu, EV Sviderskaya & AN Hume (2014). Myosin-Va and actin dynamics oppose microtubule based transport to drive organelle dispersion. Current Biology 24, 1743-1750.
Actis P, S Tokar, J Clausmeyer, B Babakinejad, S Mikhaleva, R Cornut, Y Takahashi, LA Córdoba, P Novak, A Shevchuck, JA Dougan, SG Kazarian, P Gorelkin, AS Erofeev, IV Yaminsky, PR Unwin, W Schuhmann, D Klenerman, DA Rusakov , Sviderskaya EV & YE Korchev (2014). Electrochemical nanoprobes for single-cell analysis. ACS Nano 8, 875-884 28
Redmond RW, A Rajadurai, D Udayakumar, EV Sviderskaya & H Tsao (2014). Melanocytes are selectively vulnerable to UVA-mediated bystander oxidative signaling. J Invest Dermatol. 134, 1083-1090.
Lam RYY, Z-X Lin, EV Sviderskaya & CHK Cheng (2014). Mechanistic studies of anti-hyperpigmentary compounds: elucidating their inhibitory and regulatory actions. Int J Mol Sci. 15, 14649-14668.
Dennis MK, AR Mantegazza, OL Snir, D Tenza, A Acosta-Ruiz, C Delevoye, R Zorger, A Sitaram, W de Jesus-Rojas, K Ravichandran, J Rux, EV Sviderskaya, DC Bennett, G Raposo, MS Marks & SR Gangi Setty (2015). BLOC-2 targets recycling endosomal tubules to melanosomes for cargo delivery, J. Cell Biol. In press.
Selected earlier papers (most cited):
Bennett DC, PJ Cooper & IR Hart (1987). A line of non-tumorigenic mouse melanocytes, syngeneic with the B16 melanoma and requiring a tumour promoter for growth. Int. J. Cancer 39 , 414-418.
Jin Y, CM Mailloux, K Gowan, SL Riccardi, G LaBerge, DC Bennett, PR Fain & RA Spritz (2007). NALP1 in vitiligo-associated multiple autoimmune disease. New Engl. J. Med. 356, 1216-1225.
Bennett DC & ML Lamoreux (2003). The color loci of mice - a genetic century. Pigment Cell Res. 16, 333-344.
Bennett DC, LA Peachey, H Durbin & PS Rudland (1978). A possible mammary stem cell line. Cell 15 , 283-298.
Gray-Schopfer VC, SC Cheong, H Chong, J Chow, A Moss, ZA Abdel-Malek, R Marais, D Wynford-Thomas & DC Bennett (2006). Cellular senescence in naevi and immortalisation in melanoma: a role for p16? Br. J. Cancer 95, 496-505.
Brooks, RF, DC Bennett & JA Smith (1980). Mammalian cell cycles need two random transitions. Cell 19 , 493-504.
Bennett DC, PJ Cooper, TJ Dexter, LM Devlin, J Heasman & B Nester (1989). Cloned mouse melanocyte lines carrying the germline coat colour mutations, albino and brown. Development 105 , 379-385.
Jin Y, SA Birlea, PR Fain, K Gowan, SL Riccardi, PJ Holland, CM Mailloux, AJD Sufit, SM Hutton, A Amadi-Myers, DC Bennett, MR Wallace, WT McCormack, EH Kemp, DJ Gawkrodger, AP Weetman, M Picardo, G Leone, A Taïeb, T Jouary, K Ezzedine, N van Geel, J Lambert, A Overbeck & RA Spritz (2010). Variant of TYR and autoimmunity susceptibility loci in generalized vitiligo. New Engl. J. Med. 362 , 1686-1697.
Bennett DC (2003). Human melanocyte senescence and melanoma susceptibility genes. Oncogene 22, 3063-3069.
Easty DJ, SP Hill, M-Y Hsu, ME Fallowfield, VA Flørenes, M Herlyn & DC Bennett (1999). Upregulation of ephrin-A1 during melanoma progression. Int. J. Cancer 84, 494-501.
Sviderskaya EV, SP Hill, TJ Evans-Whipp, L Chin, SJ Orlow, DJ Easty, SC Cheong, D Beach, RA DePinho & DC Bennett (2002). p16Ink4a in melanocyte senescence and differentiation. J Natl. Cancer Inst. 94 , 446-454.
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Sorry, no vacancies at present.
We are always interested to hear from bright and creative researchers who are thinking about applying for their own funding/ fellowships on topics related to ours, and need a host lab.
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International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies (IFPCS) Home Page
(DCB is Past President of the IFPCS)
European Society for Pigment Cell Research
(DCB is Past President of the ESPCR)
The Journal:- Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research
(DCB is on the Editorial Board)
The Society for Melanoma Research
Information on Melanoma (Cancer Research UK)
Information on Melanoma (National Cancer Institute, USA)
The Vitiligo Society (for patients, UK)
(DCB is past Chair of the Society's Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee)
The National Vitiligo Foundation (for patients, USA)
ARIV-Onlus (for vitiligo patients, Italy [vitiligine, Italia])
The Vitiligo European Task Force (for researchers. DCB is a member.)
Information on Albinism (National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation)
Information on Waardenburg Syndrome (National Institutes of Health)
The Coat Colors of Mice: A Model for Mammalian Gene Action and Interaction by W.K. Silvers:- An online adaptation of a classic textbook.
The Colors of Mice: A model genetic network by ML Lamoreux, V Delmas, L Larue & DC Bennett (2010). Our update of Silvers.
International Cell Senescence Association (ICSA) DCB is President of the ICSA
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