Melanocortin
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry:
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melanocortin
a generic term for either of the peptide hormones melanotropin or corticotropin, derived from their common precursor proopiomelanocortin. Although they have distinct functions (melanotropin in control of melanocyte growth and pigment formation, corticotropin in stimulating the adrenal cortex to produce glucocorticoids and aldosterone), they also share functions in, e.g., immunomodulation and antipyretic activity; because corticotropin can regulate melanocyte function, it is possible also to regard it as a melanotropin.
| melanin concentrating hormone, melanin, meiosis | |
| melanocortin receptor, melanocyte, melanocyte regulatory factor |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Melanocortin
| proopiomelanocortin derivatives | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POMC | |||||||||
| γ-MSH | ACTH | β-lipotropin | |||||||
| α-MSH | CLIP | γ-lipotropin | β-endorphin | ||||||
| β-MSH | |||||||||
The melanocortins are a group of peptide hormones which include adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and the different forms of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH).[1] They can be synthetic (created in a lab). In humans they can be endogenously produced from proopiomelanocortin (POMC) in the pituitary gland.[2] The melanocortins exert their effects by binding to and activating the melanocortin receptors.
References
- ^ Gantz I, Fong TM (March 2003). "The melanocortin system". Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 284 (3): E468–74. doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00434.2002. PMID 12556347. http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/284/3/E468.
- ^ Raffin-Sanson ML, de Keyzer Y, Bertagna X (August 2003). "Proopiomelanocortin, a polypeptide precursor with multiple functions: from physiology to pathological conditions". Eur. J. Endocrinol. 149 (2): 79–90. doi:10.1530/eje.0.1490079. PMID 12887283. http://www.eje-online.org/cgi/content/abstract/149/2/79.
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