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Great progress has been made during the past 25 years in biochemical studies and similar progress has been made in investigative dermatology. The progress originally depended upon the development of a group of leaders who won support for research endeavors, and in the future its continuation will depend upon support for basic research in clinical departments. Current studies on melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptors, the role of filaments in pigment cells, and the role of cyclic AMP in melanocytes are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on author's long association with dermatologist Thomas Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick and the author worked together so closely, so long, and so productively, that they qualify in saying they came over on the boat together. Fitzpatrick and the author met at the Army Chemical Center in Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, in 1947. They had an absolutely fabulous year at the Army Chemical Center. They decided to do research together. They showed that mammalian pigment cells contain an enzyme with two catalytic activities: tyrosinase, which catalyzes the oxidation of tyrosine to dopa, and dopa oxidase, which catalyzes the oxidation of dopa to dopa quinone.

The action of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) on melanocytes has recently been reviewed. In past discussions another dendritic cell in the skin, the Langerhans cell, generally renamed in the background, whereas in this symposium attention has been directed at the Langerhans cell and the melanocyte has remained in the background It should not come as a surprise that there may be important interactions between melanocytes and Langerhans cells. Considerable evidence based on clinical and laboratory observations suggests that an immunologic process can destroy melanocytes.