Melanocortin receptors

The melanocortin receptor system consists of five closely related G-protein coupled receptors, MC1R, MC2R, MC3R, MC4R and MC5R. The natural agonist ligands for these receptors are derived by processing of a primordial animal gene product, proopiomelanocortin, and each of the melanocortin receptor subtypes has a different pattern of tissue expression and its own profile with regard to the relative potency of the different melanocortin peptides.  Melanocortin receptors are involved in a wide range of physiological functions, including skin pigmentation, energy homeostasis, inflammation, immunomodulation, steroidogenesis and temperature control.

Further reading

Yang (2011) Structure, function and regulation of the melanocortin receptors. Eur J Pharmacol. 660(1) 125 PMID: 21208602

Cai and Hruby (2016) The Melanocortin Receptor System: A Target for Multiple Degenerative Diseases. Curr Protein Pept Sci. 7(5) 488 PMID: 26916163

Moscowitz et al (2019)The Importance of Melanocortin Receptors and Their Agonists in Pulmonary Disease. Front Med. 6 145 PMID: 31316990