L3.6.4: Nails

• • Heavily keratinized, scalelike modifications of the epidermis
  • Stratum basale extends beneath the nail bed, which is responsible for growth
  • Lack of pigment makes nail colorless
  • Growth of the nail occurs from nail matrix

  Nails
• Parts of a nail

  • Free edge
  • Body - visible attached portion
  • Root - embedded in the skin
  • Nail folds - skin folds that overlap the edges of the nail
  • Cuticle - edge of the thick proximal nail fold