{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T22:14:26Z","timestamp":1793139266822,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":62,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,24]],"date-time":"2022-01-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1642982400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>c-Kit, or mast\/stem cell growth factor receptor Kit, is a tyrosine kinase receptor structurally analogous to the colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) CSF-1\/PDGF receptor Tyr-subfamily. It binds the cytokine KITLG\/SCF to regulate cell survival and proliferation, hematopoiesis, stem cell maintenance, gametogenesis, mast cell development, migration and function, and it plays an essential role in melanogenesis. SCF and c-Kit are biologically active as membrane-bound and soluble forms. They can be expressed by tumor cells and cells of the microenvironment playing a crucial role in tumor development, progression, and relapses. To date, few investigations have concerned the role of SCF<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\/c-Kit<jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup> mast cells in normal, premalignant, and malignant skin lesions that resemble steps of malignant melanoma progression. In this study, by immunolabeling reactions, we demonstrated that in melanoma lesions, SCF and c-Kit were expressed in mast cells and released by themselves, suggesting an autocrine\/paracrine loop might be implicated in regulatory mechanisms of neoangiogenesis and tumor progression in human melanoma.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2022.794974","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,24]],"date-time":"2022-01-24T05:28:41Z","timestamp":1643002121000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Autocrine\/Paracrine Loop Between SCF+\/c-Kit+ Mast Cells Promotes Cutaneous Melanoma 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