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CHAPTER 11 - SKIN
Histology Guide
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MICROGRAPH

NAME
EM 315 Melanocyte
TISSUE
Thin Skin
IMAGE SIZE
7,897 x 10,069 pixels
227 MB
FILE SIZES
84,892 KB (grayscale)
96,225 KB (color)
MAGNIFICATION
Unknown
PIXEL SIZE
2.000 nm
SOURCE
Karen Holbrook
Department of Biological Structure
School of Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, WA

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EM 315 Melanocyte

Melanocyte

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of a melanocyte in thin skin.

Melanocytes are melanin-producing cells resting on the basal lamina. Melanin is produced in special organelles called melanosomes that are transferred to adjacent keratinocytes.

  • (green) - neural crest derivatives that migrate into the developing epithelium
    • Melanosomes (black) - scattered large granules
    • Intermediate filaments - composed of vimentin (rather than keratin)
    • No desmosomes with keratinocytes
    • No hemidesmosomes with the basal lamina
  • (dark green) - stratified squamous keratinized epithelium
    • Accumulates melanosomes transferred from melanocytes
    • Intermediate filaments - composed of keratin
    • Desmosomes (,; red/yellow)- many of them between keratinocytes
    • Hemidesmosomes (,; light blue)- many of them attach the keratinocytes to the basal lamina

Subcellular Structures

  • Nucleus (blue) / Nuclear Envelope (purple)
  • Golgi Apparatus (yellow)
  • Mitochondria (red)
  • Endoplasmic Reticulum (cyan)

A with several non-myelinated nerve fibers (orange) is seen close to the epidermis. They are wrapped by processes from Schwann cells (brown).

Courtesy of Karen Hollbrook, Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, WA.

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