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Melanocortin Receptors and Antagonists Regulate Pigmentation and Body Weight by Siobhán Jordan; Ian J. Jackson is a Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Melanocortin Receptors and Antagonists Regulate Pigmentation and Body Weight about?

The action of two genetic loci-agouti and the melanocortin receptor-1 (Mc1r)have opposing effects in the control of mammalian pigmentation and ultimately determine the color of the pigment produced. In a recent paper, Ollmann et al. confirmed that the agouti protein acts via the Mc1r. They show that high-affinity binding of the agouti protein to Mc1r expressed in mammalian cells can be inhibited by the receptor's natural ligand, ␣-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (␣-MSH). In addition, genetic studies using mice carrying mutations at the Mc1r and agouti loci on a sensitized background of low tyrosinase expression confirm that a functional Mc1r is required for the maximum pigmentary effect of agouti. Thus, the Mc1r appears to be a unique, bifunctionally controlled receptor, activated by ␣-MSH and antagonized by agouti, both of which contribute to the variability seen in mammalian coat color.

Who reads Melanocortin Receptors and Antagonists Regulate Pigmentation and Body Weight?

Author

Siobhán Jordan; Ian J. Jackson

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons; Wiley (John Wiley & Sons); John Wiley & Sons Inc.; Wiley (ISSN 0265-9247)

Published

1998

Language

EN

Field

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)