Suppression of progressive loss of coat color in microphthalmia-vitiligo mutant mice.

The coat color of C57BL/6-Mitfvit/vit mice whitens with age, because of a one-nucleotide mutation in the DNA-binding region of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), which plays an important role in melanocyte growth and differentiation. To investigate the signals regulating MITF function, we prepared transgenic mice expressing three of the external signals that are important for melanocyte development, i.e.