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    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-23-001",
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    "headline": "The Pigment Cells Were Sleeping, Not Gone",
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    "dek": "Researchers found dormant melanocytes inside vitiligo patches, reframing how lost pigment might one day be restored.",
    "summary": "Researchers found dormant melanocytes inside vitiligo patches, reframing how lost pigment might one day be restored.",
    "body_text": "Osaka Metropolitan University researchers report that melanocytes can persist inside vitiligo lesions after losing their mature, pigment-producing state. Their tissue and cell experiments link the change to remodeling of the basement membrane: laminin-332 and integrin signaling activate c-Jun and push cells toward dedifferentiation. Blocking that pathway restored pigment-related features in laboratory work. The finding suggests a route for future therapies, but it is not a clinical treatment and does not show that every lesion retains recoverable cells.",
    "why_it_matters": "Researchers found dormant melanocytes inside vitiligo patches, reframing how lost pigment might one day be restored.",
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      "Blocking that pathway restored pigment-related features in laboratory work.",
      "The finding suggests a route for future therapies, but it is not a clinical treatment and does not show that every lesion retains recoverable cells."
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    "tags": [
      "vitiligo",
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      "cell state"
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    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-07-23-001",
      "title": "Osaka Metropolitan University via EurekAlert: Dormant melanocytes in vitiligo",
      "publisher": "Osaka Metropolitan University via EurekAlert",
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    "title": "The Pigment Cells Were Sleeping, Not Gone",
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