• Melanocytes: A mature melanin-forming cell, especially in the skin.
• Dorsal roots of spinal cord: Cluster of nerve cell bodies (a ganglion) in a dorsal root (a branch of a nerve carrying mostly sensory signals into the spinal cord).
• Autoimmune disease: A disease in which the body produces antibodies that attack its own tissues, leading to the deterioration and in some cases to the destruction of such tissue.
• Biopsy: An examination of tissue removed from a living body to discover the presence, cause, or extent of a disease.