| umls-concept:C0025201 | skos:definition | MSH: Mammalian pigment cells that produce MELANINS, pigments found mainly in the EPIDERMIS, but also in the eyes and the hair, by a process called melanogenesis. Coloration can be altered by the number of melanocytes or the amount of pigment produced and stored in the organelles called MELANOSOMES. The large non-mammalian melanin-containing cells are called MELANOPHORES.,CSP: dendritic pigment cells of the epidermis that synthesize tyrosinase, and within their melanosomes the pigment melanin is synthesized; they control long term morphological skin color changes.,NCI: Cells in the skin and eyes that produce and contain the pigment called melanin. | lld:umls |
