The short version of alpha-MSH fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
Reviewed 2025-09-29. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Early published reports described melanotan-2 as a tanning agent without sun protection, which means darkening is not the same as protection against ultraviolet radiation. Later studies explored the peptide in erectile dysfunction, hemorrhagic shock, and some skin conditions. No regulator in the United States or Europe has approved it for clinical use. Many products labelled melanotan-2 are sold without approval and their identity and purity are unverified. Its long-term safety in humans remains an open question.
Melanotan-2, also written Melanotan II, is a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide designed as an analogue of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. Its sequence is Ac-Nle-cyclo[Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-NH2, and the lactam bridge between the aspartate and lysine side chains constrains the peptide into a ring. This structural change increases receptor affinity and metabolic stability relative to the native hormone. The compound was created in the 1980s as a research tool for studying pigmentation biology.
The compound emerged from research programs in the 1980s that examined analogues of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone for pigmentation and photoprotection. Investigators modified the native sequence to extend activity duration and potency. A related analogue, afamelanotide, was developed within the same broad line of inquiry and eventually gained approval in certain jurisdictions for a rare light-sensitivity condition. Melanotan-2 itself did not progress through the same regulatory route and has no approved therapeutic indication.
Melanocortin receptors comprise five subtypes with distinct tissue distributions and functions. Melanotan-2 is described in the literature as a non-selective agonist that engages several of these subtypes, including MC1R, MC3R, MC4R, and MC5R. MC1R is the subtype most directly linked to melanin production in skin cells. Because the compound is not subtype-selective, its observed effects in experimental settings are generally attributed to activity across multiple receptor pathways rather than to a single target.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Compound class | Synthetic cyclic heptapeptide | Alpha-MSH analogue containing a D-phenylalanine residue |
| Molecular formula | C50H69N15O9 | Average molecular mass approximately 1024.2 g/mol |
| Appearance | White to off-white lyophilised powder | Normally supplied as a freeze-dried solid in a sealed vial |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water and polar solvents | Dissolves readily in aqueous buffers and in alcohol-water mixtures |
| Receptor targets | MC1R, MC3R, MC4R, MC5R | Acts as a non-selective melanocortin receptor agonist |
=== Differential diagnosis === 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) deficiency has similar symptoms and is often mistaken for G6PD deficiency, as the affected enzyme is within the same pathway; however, these diseases are not linked and can be found within the same person.
In Figure 5, both ribosomal subunits (small and large) assemble at the start codon (towards the 5' end of the mRNA). The ribosome uses tRNA that matches the current codon (triplet) on the mRNA to append an amino acid to the polypeptide chain. This is done for each triplet on the mRNA, while the ribosome moves towards the 3' end of the mRNA. Usually in bacterial cells, several ribosomes are working parallel on a single mRNA, forming what is called a polyribosome or polysome.
Ottoman anti slavery laws where not enforced in the late 19th-century, particularly not in Hejaz; the first attempt to ban the Red Sea slave trade in 1857, the firman of 1857, resulted in a rebellion in the Hejaz Province, the Hejaz rebellion, which resulted in Hejaz being exempted from the ban. The Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1880 formally banned the Red Sea slave trade, but it was not enforced in the Ottoman Provinces in the Arabian Peninsula. In the late 19th century, the Sultan of Morocco stated to Western diplomats that it was impossible for him to ban slavery because such a ban would not be enforceable, but the British asked him to ensure that the slave trade in Morocco would at least be handled discreet and away from the eyes of foreign witnesses. Chattel slavery lasted in most of the Middle East until the 20th century. The Red Sea slave trade still provided enslaved people from Africa to the Arabian Peninsula after World War II. As recently as the 1960s, Saudi Arabia's slave population was estimated at 300,000. Along with Yemen, the Saudis abolished slavery in 1962.
He has appeared on BBC Horizon, UK Channel 5 and the History Channel. He appeared on the 2013 Discovery Channel program "Red Rain". He has an association with Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Buddhist sect Soka Gakkai International, that led to the publication of a dialogue with him, first in Japanese and later in English, on the topic of Space and Eternal Life.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
There are several different mating systems among teleosts. Some species are promiscuous, where both males and females breed with multiple partners and there are no obvious mate choices. This has been recorded in Baltic herring, Guppies, Nassau groupers, humbug damselfish, cichlids and creole wrasses. Polygamy, where one sex has multiple partners can come in many forms. Polyandry consists of one adult female breeding with multiple males, which only breed with that female. This is rare among teleosts, and fish in general, but is found in the clownfish. In addition, it may also exist to an extent among anglerfish, where some females have more than one male attached to them. Polygyny, where one male breeds with multiple females, is much more common. This is recorded in Sculpins, sunfish, darters, damselfish and cichlids where multiple females may visit a territorial male that guards and takes care of eggs and young. Polygyny may also involve a male guarding a harem of several females. This occurs in coral reef species, such as damselfishes, wrasses, parrotfishes, surgeonfishes, triggerfishes and tilefishes. Lek breeding, where males congregate to display to females, has been recorded in at least one species Cyrtocara eucinostomus. Lek-like breeding systems have also been recorded in several other species. In monogamous species, males and females may form pair bonds and breed exclusively with their partners. This occurs in North American freshwater catfishes, many butterflyfishes, sea horses and several other species.
== Adult life == Elizabeth returned to school in 1923 and graduated from Barnard College in 1929. In 1930 she married William T. Gossett, a lawyer who later served as the president of the American Bar Association (1968-69) as well as vice president and general counsel of the Ford Motor Company. They lived in Bloomfield, Michigan, and had two daughters and a son. Elizabeth Gossett was active in civic affairs in the Detroit area. She was a member of the board of trustees of Barnard College, one of the founding trustees of Oakland University, Rochester, a member of the Detroit Urban League, as well as a volunteer at the Merrill-Palmer Institute and at Michigan State University. She was best known as the founder of the Supreme Court Historical Society in 1972 and served as its president until 1979. Gossett died of a heart attack on April 21, 1981, at the age of 73. By the time of her death, she had received approximately 42,000 insulin injections over 58 years. Although her name had been prominently mentioned in the newspaper coverage of insulin in 1922, she later hid her diabetes from her friends and associates. She destroyed most of the material that documented her treatments, and even removed references to diabetes in her father's papers.
=== Human chorionic gonadotropin === Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. This hormone stimulates the Corpus Luteum to produce progesterone to maintain pregnancy. Therefore, hCG plays a role in human maternal recognition of pregnancy.
Various companies are currently developing a range of remote tablet counters, verification systems and pharmacy automation components to improve the accuracy, safety, speed and efficiency of medication dispensing. Products that are used in retail, mail order, hospital outpatient and specialty pharmacies as well as industrial settings such as manufacturing and component factories. These advanced systems will continue to provide accurate counting without the need for adjustment or calibration when counting in different production environments. Pictured here is a modern (2010) remote controlled tablet hopper mechanism for use with bulk packaged individual tablets or capsules. In the UK these items are more suited to Hospital Pharmacies, where the issue of E.U. blister packaging regulations relating to medicine packaging does not apply. Also pictured is another version of an automated machine that does not allow unauthorised interference to the internal store of drugs. (A useful security feature in a large pharmacy with public access.)
The calcitonin receptor is a G protein-coupled receptor localized to osteoclasts as well kidney and brain cells. It is coupled to a Gsα subunit, thus stimulating cAMP production by adenylate cyclase in target cells.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
No. It is a laboratory-made peptide, while the natural hormone is alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, a longer peptide produced by the pituitary gland and by skin cells. Melanotan-2 mimics only a short active region of that hormone and contains non-natural residues such as D-phenylalanine.
No approved regulatory indication exists in major markets. An approval exists for a different peptide, afamelanotide, which is used for a rare photosensitivity disorder called erythropoietic protoporphyria. Melanotan-2 itself remains a research compound with no cleared clinical role.
Melanocortin-1 receptors on melanocytes are the receptor most closely linked to pigment production. The peptide is not selective, however, and also activates melanocortin-3, melanocortin-4, and melanocortin-5 receptors. That lack of selectivity is the usual explanation offered for both its range of observed effects and its off-target effects.
No. Melanotan-2 is manufactured synthetically. The naturally occurring peptide in the same family is alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, which the body produces as part of normal endocrine and neural signalling.