Particularly noteworthy is the marked increase in expression levels observed for melanoblast marker genes (sox10, mitf, kit, ednrb2, and dct) and iridoblast marker genes (tfec, tfap2b, sox10, pax7, ltk, hlf, gbx2.1, and alx4) during melanoma progression (Figure 7D-E). This evidence concerns the gene DCT and melanoma.