Changes in melanosomes with age in iridial stromal melanocytes of rhesus macaques.

Iridial ultrasections from eyes of rhesus macaques of different ages were compared. Long, thin melanosomes characteristic of iridial stromal melanocytes occur singly in young monkeys prior to or until adolescence (at or under 3 years of age); as monkeys grow older, they begin to form compound granules by fusions of two or more melanosomes. The frequency of fusions and the number of melanosomes in the fused granules increase in proportion to the age. It appears that long, thin single melanosomes fuse and develop into large ovoid granules characteristic of those in adult choroidal melanocytes and in postnatal pigmented epithelia. We suggest that iridial melanocytes in due time develop into cells with properties identical to those of choroidal melanocytes: they have the same developmental history, and differ only in the timing of their maturation and terminal differentiation.