How to Use melanocyte in a Sentence

melanocyte

noun
  • This is released from melanocytes, the same cell type that creates skin pigment.
    — Rj MacKenzie, Popular Science, 20 Mar. 2025
  • Melanoma, which starts in those pigment-providing melanocytes, can be much more lethal.
    — Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, SELF, 2 Feb. 2018
  • But why these melanocyte cells stop working in the first place is certainly up for debate.
    — Sarah Garone, Health, 21 Feb. 2025
  • Melanoma is a type of cancer that starts in melanocytes, or pigment-producing cells in the skin.
    — Maggie O'Neill, Health.com, 6 Nov. 2019
  • When these melanocytes go into overdrive and produce too much color, the dark spots can occur.
    — Susan Brickell, Health.com, 9 Apr. 2018
  • Melanoma is a skin cancer that develops from melanocytes, cells that produce skin color.
    — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 7 Sep. 2017
  • Melanin is the pigment produced by specialized skin cells (melanocytes) that gives skin a darker hue.
    — Marisa Garshick, Verywell Health, 30 Dec. 2024
  • Next, hormones trigger changes in the melanocytes, or pigment cells, that give your nipples their color.
    — Kimberly A. Daly, Parents, 21 Aug. 2023
  • While most everyone has the same number of melanocytes, some people produce more melanin than others.
    — Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2023
  • In rare cases, vitiligo affects the melanocytes in the ears, leading to hearing loss.
    — Angela Ryan Lee, Verywell Health, 25 Feb. 2025
  • Melanoma is a cancer that originates in melanocytes, the cells that produce the skin-color pigment melanin.
    — Scientific American, 7 Apr. 2018
  • Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that develops when melanocytes grow uncontrollably.
    — Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 12 Dec. 2025
  • The team studied melanocyte stem cells, the cells that give hair and skin their color, using mouse models and tissue samples.
    — Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2025
  • It is thought to be triggered by chemicals released from the nerve endings in the skin that are poisonous to the melanocyte skin cells.
    — Emily Kirkpatrick, Peoplemag, 25 May 2023
  • Moles, which occur when pigment cells called melanocytes cluster together, are very common.
    — Carrie Madormo, Health, 7 Aug. 2025
  • These types of bumps or spots form when melanocytes, the skin cells that create melanin, clump together or grow in clusters rather than being spread out.
    — Jenn Sinrich, SELF, 31 May 2019
  • And this gene was in turn instructing those melanocytes to produce the lighter features, including the ginger coat.
    — New Atlas, 24 May 2025
  • These cells, which are called melanocytes, are missing in some areas for humans and animals with the condition.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 May 2025
  • Melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes, which live in the base layer of our epidermis (the outermost layer of our skin).
    — Rebecca Dancer, Allure, 13 Mar. 2020
  • With vitiligo, the immune system attacks and destroys melanocytes, the skin cells that produce melanin.
    — Daniella Midenge, Women's Health, 26 Apr. 2023
  • Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition in which cells known as melanocytes are killed off in certain areas of the skin.
    — Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 9 Feb. 2025
  • This is a more aggressive form of skin cancer that develops in melanocytes, the skin cells that produce pigment to give skin its color.
    — Casey Gallagher, Health, 15 Apr. 2025
  • Although all skin has the same amount of melanocytes, darker skin has more active melanin cells which can cause hyperpigmentation.
    — India Espy-Jones, Essence, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Ultraviolet light prompts melanocytes to churn out more melanin, which is why your melasma may get worse in the summer and better in the winter.
    — Korin Miller, SELF, 27 Aug. 2018
  • Melanosomes move from the melanocytes to different cells, like the epidermis, and deposit the pigments that give us the color of our skin, hair, and eyes.
    — Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, 20 Aug. 2019
  • After many such cycles, the stem cell melanocytes—which develop into melanocytes—in our hair follicles fatigue.
    — Connie Chang, Popular Mechanics, 3 July 2023
  • Finally, melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, begins in the melanocytes (the pigment cells that give skin its color).
    — Morgan Fargo, refinery29.com, 4 Mar. 2024
  • The differentiated melanocytes in the hair bulb continued to pump out color.
    — Popular Science, 27 Jan. 2020
  • Known as melasma, the condition, which can also occur in men, results from overactive melanocytes, the skin’s pigment cells.
    — Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 22 July 2024
  • Friedman says the body's inflammatory response — meant to heal the wound — can also damage pigment cells in the skin, known as melanocytes.
    — Andrea Muraskin, NPR, 23 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'melanocyte.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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