/məˈlænəˌsaɪt,-noʊ-/ⓘ or /ˈmɛlənəˌsaɪt,-noʊ-/[1][2]
Precursor
Neural crest
Location
Human skin
Function
Melanin production
Identifiers
Latin
melanocytus
MeSH
D008544
TH
H2.00.03.0.01016
FMA
70545
Anatomical terms of microanatomy
[edit on Wikidata]
Melanocytes are melanin-producing neural crest-derived[3] cells located in the bottom layer (the stratum basale) of the skin's epidermis, the middle layer of the eye (the uvea),[4] the inner ear,[5] vaginal epithelium,[6] meninges,[7] bones,[8] and heart.[9] Melanin is a dark pigment primarily responsible for skin color. Once synthesized, melanin is contained in special organelles called melanosomes which can be transported to nearby keratinocytes to induce pigmentation. Thus darker skin tones have more melanosomes present than lighter skin tones. Functionally, melanin serves as protection against UV radiation. Melanocytes also have a role in the immune system.
^"Melanocyte". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-03-22.
^"Melanocyte". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
^Cramer SF (February 1991). "The origin of epidermal melanocytes. Implications for the histogenesis of nevi and melanomas". Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. 115 (2): 115–9. PMID 1992974.
^
Barden H, Levine S (June 1983). "Histochemical observations on rodent brain melanin". Brain Research Bulletin. 10 (6): 847–51. doi:10.1016/0361-9230(83)90218-6. PMID 6616275. S2CID 4783099.
^
Markert CL, Silvers WK (May 1956). "The Effects of Genotype and Cell Environment on Melanoblast Differentiation in the House Mouse". Genetics. 41 (3): 429–50. doi:10.1093/genetics/41.3.429. PMC 1209793. PMID 17247639.
^Mayeaux EJ, Cox JT, et al. (American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology) (2011-12-28). Modern Colposcopy Textbook and Atlas. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 9781451153835.
^
Mintz B (1971). "Clonal basis of mammalian differentiation". Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology. 25: 345–70. PMID 4940552.
^
Nichols SE, Reams WM (March 1960). "The occurrence and morphogenesis of melanocytes in the connective tissues of the PET/MCV mouse strain". Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology. 8: 24–32. PMID 14426921.
^
Theriault LL, Hurley LS (October 1970). "Ultrastructure of developing melanosomes in C57 black and pallid mice". Developmental Biology. 23 (2): 261–75. doi:10.1016/0012-1606(70)90098-9. PMID 5476812.
Melanocytes are melanin-producing neural crest-derived cells located in the bottom layer (the stratum basale) of the skin's epidermis, the middle layer...
of hair follicles produce melanocytes, the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells causes the onset...
melanin-forming cells (melanocytes) in certain areas of the skin and hair. It is a rare autosomal dominant disorder of melanocyte development.: 867 Common...
secreting prolactin). The intermediate lobe synthesizes and secretes melanocyte-stimulating hormone. The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) is a...
release in hair follicles. This overproduction causes depletion of the melanocyte stem cells which are required to produce melanin, the pigment responsible...
Melanoma is a group of serious skin cancers that arise from pigment cells (melanocytes); acral lentiginous melanoma is a kind of lentiginous skin melanoma....
produced by skin cells called melanocytes. Variations in genes that are part of the immune system or part of melanocytes have both been associated with...
harmless (benign) hyperplasia of melanocytes which is linear in its spread. This means the hyperplasia of melanocytes is restricted to the cell layer directly...
The melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), also known as melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor (MSHR), melanin-activating peptide receptor, or melanotropin...
specialized cell, the melanocyte, which is found in each hair follicle, from which the hair grows. As hair grows, the melanocyte injects melanin into the...
are expressed in melanocytes that migrate to the skin surface later in development. In bi-colored tortoiseshell cats, the melanocytes arrive relatively...
nevus (also known as an "acquired dermal melanocytosis", and "dermal melanocyte hamartoma") is a cutaneous condition characterized by a diffusely gray-blue...
an increased number of the melanin-producing cells, or melanocytes, but instead have melanocytes that overproduce melanin granules (melanosomes) changing...
of which CREB is a transcription factor. Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), beta-melanocyte stimulating hormone (β-MSH), and adrenocorticotropic...
heterochromia. Piebaldism – similar to Waardenburg's syndrome, a rare disorder of melanocyte development characterized by a white forelock and multiple symmetrical...
lobe of the pituitary regulates the movement of melanin produced from melanocytes in skin. ACTH is a peptide hormone that regulates the secretion of mainly...
pigmented growth on the skin, formed mostly of a type of cell known as a melanocyte. The high concentration of the body's pigmenting agent, melanin, is responsible...
Melanin pigments are produced in a specialized group of cells known as melanocytes. There are five basic types of melanin: eumelanin, pheomelanin, neuromelanin...
Melanotan II is a synthetic analogue of the peptide hormone α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) that stimulates melanogenesis and increases sexual...
is co-dominant to normal coat color as it prevents the migration of melanocytes into the developing hair follicles. The genetics of this pattern are...
and activated by synthetic (i.e. afamelanotide) and endogenous agonist melanocyte-stimulating hormones. Several selective ligands for the melanocortin receptors...
undergoes cleavage to adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), β-lipotropin (β-LPH), and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH). These cells are stimulated by corticotropin...
containing the endogenous photoprotectant melanin, from epidermal melanocytes. Each melanocyte in the epidermis has several dendrites that stretch out to connect...
the body ages, melanocyte distribution becomes less diffuse and its regulation less controlled by the body. UV light stimulates melanocyte activity, and...
Photoprotection is the biochemical process that helps organisms cope with molecular damage caused by sunlight. Plants and other oxygenic phototrophs have...
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