What is the main role of melanin what happens to your skin when you have a decreased amount of melanin?
Because of this property, melanin is thought to protect skin cells from UVB radiation damage, reducing the risk of folate depletion and dermal degradation, and it is considered that exposure to UV radiation is associated with increased risk of malignant melanoma, a cancer of melanocytes (melanin cells).
How does melanin affect our appearance?
If those cells make just a little bit of melanin, your hair, skin and the iris of your eyes can be very light. If your cells make more, then your hair, skin, and eyes will be darker. The amount of melanin your body makes depends on your genes.
What is the function of melanin in the skin?
In its various forms, melanin fulfills a variety of biological functions, including skin and hair pigmentation and photoprotection of the skin and eye. Pigmentation of the skin results from the accumulation of melanin-containing melanosomes in the basal layer of the epidermis.
Does more melanin means darker skin?
Melanin: The pigment that gives human skin, hair, and eyes their color. Dark-skinned people have more melanin in their skin than light-skinned people have. Melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes.
Does melanin determine skin color?
Melanin content of skin is the main determining factor of skin and hair colour; hair is considered a form of skin with regards to pigmentation. Melanin is synthesized by melanosomes found in skin cells called melanocytes.
Why do some people have less melanin than others?
Some people naturally produce less melanin, which means less pigment and lighter skin. Other people possess fewer melanocytes than normal, which also results in less overall pigment and lighter skin. Clumps of melanocytes in fair-skinned people often appear as freckles.
What is melanin and how is it produced?
Melanin is produced in specialized cells called melanocytes, but these do not behave in the same way for all people. Some people naturally produce less melanin, which means less pigment and lighter skin. Other people possess fewer melanocytes than normal, which also results in less overall pigment and lighter skin.
Can the pigmentation of your skin change?
In addition to sun exposure and skin damage, there are several disorders that can cause changes in the pigmentation of our skin, either permanently or temporarily. Some afflictions only affect your skin tone, but other changes in pigmentation are warning signs of a more insidious health issue.
What are melanocytes and how do they affect hair color?
Melanocytes are also responsible for producing the melanin that gives your hair its color, but these cells are more sensitive to the aging process than those in your skin. This is why hair begins to grey with age, whereas the skin typically maintains its color (Advances in Dermatology and Allergology).