ABSTRACT
Cutaneous malignant melanoma, a tumor that stems from neural-crest-derived cells which normally produce a pigment, melanin, and transfer it to keratinocytes to protect the body surface against damage from solar ultraviolet radiation, is likely to be one of the human tumors most actively studied. Nerve Growth Factor is a high molecular weight multimeric polypeptide consisting of three distinct noncovalently linked subunits. Platelet-Derived Growth Factor is a heat-stable polypeptide consisting of two chains (A and B) forming either homo- or heterodimers of 28 to 35 kDa. Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) is an angiogenic heparin-binding endothelial cell growth factor, originally isolated from bovine brain, which has recently received much consideration in view of the role possibly played by basic FGF in melanocyte transformation. Transferrin, an iron-binding glycoprotein, is known to be one of the nutrients required to sustain growth of cells, including normal melanocytes, in chemically defined media.
