melanocytes

Examples of melanocytes in the following topics:

• Vitiligo

  • Vitiligo is a disorder characterized by patchy loss of skin pigmentation due to the immune system attacking melanocytes in the skin.
  • Vitiligo is a disorder characterized by patchy loss of skin pigmentation due to the immune system attacking melanocytes, the melanin-producing cells of the skin .
  • Variations in genes that are part of the immune system or part of melanocytes have both been associated with vitiligo.
  • Another technique transplants melanocytes to vitiligo affected areas, effectively repigmenting the region.

• Skin Color

  • Skin color is determined largely by the amount of melanin pigment produced by melanocytes in the skin.
  • In this layer lie important cells called melanocytes. 
  • Melanocytes are irregularly shaped cells that produce and store a pigment called melanin.
  • People with darker skin have more active melanocytes compared to people with lighter skin. 
  • The transfer of melanin from melanocytes to keratinocytes occurs thanks to the long tentacles each melanocyte extends to upwards of 40 keratinocytes. 

• Albinism

  • Individuals with albinism posses melanocytes, the melanin-producing cell of the skin, but their melanocytes are unable to produce melanin.

• Overview of the Body's Surface

  • The average square inch (6.5 cm²) of skin holds 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, 60,000 melanocytes, and more than 1,000 nerve endings Fig .
  • Skin Structure.Skin has mesodermal cells, pigmentation, or melanin provided by melanocytes, which absorb some of the potentially dangerous ultraviolet radiation (UV) in sunlight.

• Nails

  • This portion of the nail does not have any melanocytes, or melanin producing cells.
  • The nail bed contains the blood vessels, nerves, and melanocytes, or melanin-producing cells.

• Development of the Integumentary System

  • Melanoblasts that will form melanocytes migrate with neural crests cells to the epithelium and begin producing melanin prior to birth.

• Development of the Peripheral Nervous System

  • Neural crest cells are a transient, multipotent, migratory cell population unique to vertebrates that gives rise to a diverse cell lineage including melanocytes, craniofacial cartilage and bone, smooth muscle, peripheral and enteric neurons and glia.

• Horner's Syndrome

  • This happens because a lack of sympathetic stimulation in childhood interferes with melanin pigmentation of the melanocytes of the iris.

• What is Skin?

  • This layer also contains melanocytes, the cells that are largely responsible for determining the color of our skin and protecting our skin from the harmful effects of UV radiation. 

• Hair

  • The hair bulb also contains cells called melanocytes that produce various kinds of melanin pigments.