melanocyte

American

[muh-lan-uh-sahyt, mel-uh-nuh-] / məˈlæn əˌsaɪt, ˈmɛl ə nə- /

noun

Cell Biology.

a cell producing and containing melanin.

melanocyte British

/ ˈmɛlənəʊˌsaɪt /

noun

anatomy zoology a cell, usually in the epidermis, that contains melanin

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

melanocyte Scientific

/ mĕl′ə-nō-sīt′,mə-lăn′ə- /

An epidermal cell that synthesizes melanin.

Etymology

Origin of melanocyte

First recorded in 1885–90; melano- + -cyte

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

melanocyte

As a proxy to determine how individual skin cells express genes, the researchers measured the amount of RNA that each melanocyte was producing and determined the gene it encoded.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024

"MITF, LEF1, and TRPS1 are involved in signaling pathways regulating both melanocyte differentiation and hair development," Tishkoff says.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 12, 2024

But as time wore on, the melanocyte cells couldn’t keep up the double act.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023

As hair ages, sheds and then repeatedly grows back, increasing numbers of the melanocyte stem cells become sluggish at their job.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2023

The second is a melanocyte, a cell that produces the pigment melanin.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023