RESUMO
Background and Objectives@#Melanocyte (MC), derived from neural crest stem cell (NCSC), are involved in the pro-duction of melanin. The mechanism by which NCSC differentiates to MC remains unclear. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification was applied to discuss the potential mechanism. @*Methods@#and Results: NCSCs were isolated from hair follicles of rats, and were obtained for differentiation. Cell via-bility, tyrosinase secretion and activity, and transcription factors were combined to evaluated the MC differentiation.RT-qPCR was applied to determine mRNA levels, and western blot were used for protein expression detection. Total m6A level was measured using methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) assay, and RNA immunoprecipitation was used to access the protein binding relationship. In current work, NCSCs were successfully differentiated into MCs.Fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO) was aberrant downregulated in MCs, and elevated FTO suppressed the differentiation progress of NCSCs into MCs. Furthermore, microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf), a key gene involved in MC synthesis, was enriched by FTO in a m6A modification manner and degraded by FTO. Meanwhile, the suppression functions of FTO in the differentiation of NCSCs into MCs were reversed by elevated Mitf. @*Conclusions@#In short, FTO suppressed the differentiating ability of hair follicle-derived NCSCs into MCs by m6Amodifying Mitf.