Melanocytes

Looks like

Branched cells scattered along the base of the epidermis, passing pigment granules to the cells around them.

What it does

Make melanin, the pigment that colours skin and hair and shields cell nuclei from ultraviolet light.

Keeping it well

Melanoma starts here. A mole that is new, changing, asymmetric, several colours or larger than 6 mm needs checking soon; sunburn in childhood raises the risk.

Related conditions

• Acne vulgaris
• Alopecia (androgenetic & areata)
• Atopic dermatitis (eczema)
• Body dysmorphic disorder
• Boils and folliculitis
• Bullous pemphigoid
• Burns
• Candida & fungal infection
• Cellulitis
• Chickenpox (varicella)
• Chilblains (pernio)
• Cold sores (herpes simplex)
• Contact dermatitis
• Endemic fungal infections (histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis)
• Epidermoid (sebaceous) cyst
• Fungal skin infection (tinea)
• Hand, foot and mouth disease
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Hidradenitis suppurativa
• Hyperhidrosis
• Hypermobility and Ehlers–Danlos syndromes
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Infantile haemangioma (strawberry mark)
• Kaposi sarcoma
• Keloid & hypertrophic scars
• Leishmaniasis
• Leprosy (Hansen's disease)
• Lichen planus
• Lichen sclerosus
• Lyme disease
• Mast cell activation & mastocytosis
• Measles
• Melanoma
• Melasma
• Mpox (monkeypox)
• MRSA and resistant staph infection
• Nappy (diaper) rash
• Necrotising fasciitis
• Onchocerciasis (river blindness)
• Parvovirus B19 (fifth disease)
• Pemphigus vulgaris
• Pilonidal sinus
• Pityriasis rosea
• Pressure ulcers & chronic wounds
• Psoriasis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Radiation injury
• Rosacea
• Roseola (sixth disease)
• Rubella (German measles)
• Scabies & lice
• Scarlet fever
• Scrub typhus & rickettsial infections
• Seborrhoeic dermatitis & dandruff
• Seborrhoeic keratosis
• Shingles (herpes zoster)
• Skin cancer (basal cell & squamous cell)
• Stevens–Johnson syndrome / toxic epidermal necrolysis
• Sun damage & actinic keratosis
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma)
• Toxic shock syndrome
• Urticaria & angioedema
• Vitamin D deficiency
• Vitiligo
• Warts, molluscum and skin infections