In the human skin, melanocytes are present in the epidermis and hair follicles. The basic features of these cells are the ability to melanin production and the origin from neural crest cells.

The prickle cell layer (stratum spinosum) have lots of desmosomes, which anchor the cells to each other, and contain thick tufts of intermediate filaments (keratin). When the cell shrinks slightly, during fixation, the desmosomes from neighbouring cells remain tightly bound to each other, and these connections look like 'prickles' or 'spines', hence the name prickle cells.