Skin

Appendages of the

Along with the skin itself, the integumentary system

includes:

STRUCTURE OF A HAIR
Hairs are flexible strands produced by hair follicles and
consist largely of dead, keratinized cells.

Cuticle
Cortex
Medulla

 Hair pigment is made by melanocytes at the base of the

hair follicle and transferred to the cortical cells. Various
proportions of melanins of different colors (yellow, rust,
brown, and black) combine to produce hair color from
blond to pitch black.

When melanin production

decreases (mediated by
delayed-action genes) and
air bubbles replace melanin
in the hair shaft, hair turns
gray or white.

STRUCTURE OF A HAIR FOLLICLE

The deep end of the
follicle, located
about 4 mm below
the skin surface,
expands to form a
hair bulb.

This papilla contains

a knot of capillaries
that supplies
nutrients to the
growing hair and
signals it to grow.

 The cells that compose the hair matrix, or actively

dividing area of the hair bulb that produces the hair,
originate in a region called the hair bulge located a
fraction of a millimeter above the hair bulb.