a chromatophore containing melanin, found esp. in coldblooded animals
melanophore in American English
(məˈlænəˌfɔr, -ˌfour, ˈmelənə-)
noun
Biology
a pigmented connective-tissue cell containing melanin in its cytoplasm, responsible for color changes in many fishes and reptiles
Word origin
[1900–05; melano- + -phore]This word is first recorded in the period 1900–05. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: burnout, decompression, geopolitics, hormone, internship-phore is a combining form meaning “bearer of,” “thing or part bearing” that specified bythe initial element. Other words that use the affix -phore include: carpophore, lophophore, pneumatophore, semaphore, spermatophore
Examples of 'melanophore' in a sentence
melanophore
This indicates a supporting role of iridophores for melanophore development and maintenance.
Jana Krauss, Hans Georg Frohnhöfer, Brigitte Walderich, Hans-Martin Maischein, ChristianWeiler, Uwe Irion, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard 2014, 'Endothelin signalling in iridophore development and stripe pattern formation of zebrafish',Biology Openhttp://bio.biologists.org/content/3/6/503. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Interestingly, forcing expression of mitfa in tfap2a/e doubly-deficient embryos partially restores melanophore differentiation.
Eric Van Otterloo, Wei Li, Gregory Bonde, Kristopher M Day, Mei-Yu Hsu, Robert A Cornell 2010, 'Differentiation of zebrafish melanophores depends on transcription factors AP2 alphaand AP2 epsilon.', PLoS Geneticshttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2940735?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Mapping and candidate gene analysis links the melanophore integrity mutant mutation to the vacuolar protein sorting 11 (vps11w66) gene.
Lauren F. Clancey, Alisha J. Beirl, Tor H. Linbo, Cynthia D. Cooper 2013, 'Maintenance of Melanophore Morphology and Survival Is Cathepsin and vps11 Dependentin Zebrafish', PLoS ONE10.1371/journal.pone.0065096. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Both melanophore and xanthophore pigment cell numbers and early markers are up-regulated in the double mutants.
Alison Heffer, Gregory D. Marquart, Allisan Aquilina-Beck, Nabil Saleem, Harold A.Burgess, Igor B. Dawid 2017, 'Generation and characterization of Kctd15 mutations in zebrafish', PLOS ONE10.1371/journal.pone.0189162. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Taken together, these data suggest that vps11 promotes normal melanophore morphology and survival by inhibiting cathepsin release and/or activity.
Lauren F Clancey, Alisha J Beirl, Tor H Linbo, Cynthia D Cooper 2013, 'Maintenance of melanophore morphology and survival is cathepsin and vps11 dependentin zebrafish.', PLoS ONEhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3664566?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)