Figure 2

Temporal evolution of dendrite length and melanin levels in epidermal layers after a pulse of UV radiation. Each column corresponds to individuals whose melanin data can be described by our model. Top panels: Length of the dendrites relative to total layer thickness. The horizontal lines define the boundaries between the layers. The colour of the curve indicates which layer the tip of the dendrite extends to (blue; basal, green; spinosum, red; granulosum). Lower panels: Temporal evolution of the melanin level in each layer, blue stars indicate observed data. Both in the experiment and the model the UV-pulse was given immediately after the first measurement. In plots displaying melanin levels, scaling is omitted to highlight the fitting of the model to data.