What are melanocytes?
Melanocytes are epithelial cells of the skin specialized in secretion of melanin. Melanin is a pigment that besides coloring the skin, the iris of the eye and the hair, also works as a filter against the ultraviolet radiation of the sun thus protecting the body against the harmful effects of this radiation (mainly burns and carcinogenic mutations). Melanocytes are the cells affected in one of the more deadly skin cancers: melanoma.
