If you have been reading about alpha-MSH and want a single page that covers the useful parts, this is it: definitions, context, how it is studied, and the questions that come up repeatedly.
Last reviewed on 2026-01-16. Where a claim depends on a specific study, the study is described rather than over-claimed.
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.
Melanotan-2 is a synthetic linear peptide built from seven amino acids arranged in a short chain. Its sequence is commonly written as Ac-Nle-Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys-NH2, which includes a modified N-terminus and an amidated C-terminus. The molecule belongs to the melanocortin family and acts as a receptor agonist. Structural features such as the D-phenylalanine residue and the Nle substitution are associated with increased stability against enzymatic degradation relative to the natural parent peptide.
| 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 |
There is evidence that the quality, rather than the quantity, of carbohydrate in a diet is important for health, and that high-fiber slow-digesting carbohydrate-rich foods are healthful while highly refined and sugary foods are less so. A diet chosen to address health concerns should be tailored to the individual's specific needs. Most vegetables are low- or moderate-carbohydrate foods (in some low-carbohydrate diets, fiber is excluded because it is not a nutritive carbohydrate). Some vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, maize (corn) and rice are high in starch. Most low-carbohydrate diet plans accommodate vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, kale, lettuce, cucumbers, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, peppers and most green-leafy vegetables.
Many fast food chains stopped use of the product after the controversy arose, or stated that they had not used the product before. In April 2012, the Concord Monitor reported increased business in some small neighborhood markets where the product's use was less likely, due to consumer concerns about the additive. In March 2012, 70% of ground beef in the U.S. contained lean finely textured beef, and a year later, in March 2013, the amount was estimated by meat industry officials to be at approximately 5%. This significant reduction is due in part to the extensive media coverage that began in March 2012 about the additive. Kroger Co. and Supervalu Inc. stopped using the additive. On March 25, 2012, BPI announced it would suspend operations at three of its four plants, being in "crisis planning". The three plants produced a total of about 900,000 pounds of the product per day. BPI said it lost contracts with 72 customers, many over the course of one weekend, and production decreased from 5 million pounds of LFTB per week to below one million pounds a week at the nadir (lowest point of production). Effective May 25, 2012, BPI closed three of its four plants, including one in Garden City, Kansas, lost more than $400 million in sales, and laid off 700 workers. Production decreased to less than 2 million pounds in 2013. Cargill also significantly cut production of finely textured beef and in April 2012 "warned [that] the public's resistance to the filler could lead to higher hamburger prices this barbecue season".
== Bibliography == Martin, Christopher S.; Chung, Tammy; Langenbucher, James W. (2017). "Part 1: Defining and Characterizing the Nature and Extent of Substance Use Disorders – Historical and Cultural Perspectives on Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders". In Sher, Kenneth J. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders: Volume 1. Oxford Library of Psychology. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 27–59. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199381678.013.001. ISBN 978-0-19-938167-8. LCCN 2016020729. Anthony, James; Barondess, David A.; Radovanovic, Mirjana; Lopez-Quintero, Catalina (2017). "Part 1: Psychiatric Comorbidity – Polydrug Use: Research Topics and Issues". In Sher, Kenneth J. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders: Volume 2. Oxford Library of Psychology. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 27–59. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199381708.013.006. ISBN 978-0-19-938170-8. LCCN 2016020729. Hernández-Serrano, Olga; Gras, Maria E.; Font-Mayolas, Sílvia; Sullman, Mark J. M. (2016). "Part VI: Dual and Polydrug Abuse – Chapter 83: Types of Polydrug Usage". In Preedy, Victor R. (ed.). Neuropathology of Drug Addictions and Substance Misuse, Volume 3: General Processes and Mechanisms, Prescription Medications, Caffeine and Areca, Polydrug Misuse, Emerging Addictions and Non-Drug Addictions. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Academic Press, imprint of Elsevier. pp. 839–849. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-800634-4.00083-4. ISBN 978-0-12-800634-4.
This deposit is blue naturally and turns green when heated due to dehydration. It is restricted to a mine-riddled region in Nishapur, the 2,012 m (6,601 ft) mountain peak of Ali-mersai near Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan Province, Iran. Weathered and broken trachyte is host to the turquoise, which is found both in situ between layers of limonite and sandstone and amongst the scree at the mountain's base. These workings are the oldest known, together with those of the Sinai Peninsula. Iran also has turquoise mines in Semnan and Kerman provinces.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
==== Gene knockout studies ==== The large number of mouse compared to human FPR receptors makes it difficult to extrapolate human FPR1 functions based on genetic (e.g. gene knockout or forced overexpression) or other experimental manipulations of FPR receptors in mice. In any event, targeted disruption of the Fpr1 gene reduced the ability of mice to survive intravenous injection of the bacterial pathogen, listeria monocytogenes; disruption of the Fpr2 gene in mice produce a similar effect while disruption of both genes further lowered the survival of mice to the listeria challenge. The effect of these gene knockouts appeared due to faulty leukocyte function and other causes leading to a breakdown in the innate immune response. The functions of the human FPR1 receptor may be equivalent to the overlapping functions of the mouse Fpr1 and Fpr2 functions and therefore be critical in the defense against at least certain bacteria. Targeted disruption of FPR-rs1 produced a 33% reduction in the lifetime of mice; there was no specific pathology associated with this reduction.
== Biological role == Dipicolinic acid composes 5% to 15% of the dry weight of Bacillus subtilis spores. It has been implicated as responsible for the heat resistance of the endospore, although mutants resistant to heat but lacking dipicolinic acid have been isolated, suggesting other mechanisms contributing to heat resistance are at work. Two genera of bacterial pathogens are known to produce endospores: the aerobic Bacillus and anaerobic Clostridium. Dipicolinic acid forms a complex with calcium ions within the endospore core. This complex binds free water molecules, causing dehydration of the spore. As a result, the heat resistance of macromolecules within the core increases. The calcium-dipicolinic acid complex also functions to protect DNA from heat denaturation by inserting itself between the nucleobases, thereby increasing the stability of DNA.
== Uses == iRGD peptides have been shown to increase accumulation and penetration of anticancer drugs into tumors, but not into normal tissues – whether the drug is coupled to the peptide or given together with it. iRGD-mediated increased penetration and anti-cancer efficacy have been demonstrated with a variety of anti-cancer small molecules, nanoparticles and antibodies. Lisata Therapeutics Inc. is currently testing iRGD-based therapy called certepetide (aka LSTA1; CEND-1) in clinical studies in solid-tumor patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) awarded certepetide orphan drug status in 2019, and fast-track designation in 2020.
Miroslav Aleksić became mayor of Trstenik in 2012 as a member of the United Regions of Serbia (Ujedinjeni regioni Srbije, URS). The URS largely became dormant after the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election, and Aleksić left the party later in the year and became acting leader of a breakaway group initially called the People's Party of Serbia (Narodna stranka Srbije, NSS). The group was formally constituted as the People's Movement of Serbia in January 2015, and Aleksić was chosen as its leader in February. The party contested the 2016 parliamentary election as part of the Alliance for a Better Serbia list led by Boris Tadić, Čedomir Jovanović and Nenad Čanak. Aleksić received the eighth position on the electoral list and was elected when the alliance won thirteen mandates. The People's Movement of Serbia operated in a parliamentary alliance with Tadić's Social Democratic Party, which also contested the 2016 elections in the Alliance for a Better Serbia. Aleksić served as the parliamentary group's deputy leader. Both the alliance with the Social Democratic Party and Aleksić's deputy leadership of the parliamentary group continued after the party was restructured as the People's Party.
=== Structural evolution === De novo proteins typically exhibit less well-defined secondary and three-dimensional structures, often lacking rigid folding but having extensive disordered regions. Quantitative analyses are still lacking on the evolution of secondary structural elements and tertiary structures over time. As structure is usually more conserved than sequence, comparing structures between orthologs could provide deeper insides into de novo gene emergence and evolution and help to confirm these genes as true de novo genes. Nevertheless, so far only very few de novo proteins have been structurally and functionally characterized, especially due to problems with protein purification and subsequent stability. Progresses have been made using different purification tags, cell types and chaperones. The 'antifreeze glycoprotein' (AFGP) in Arctic codfishes prevents their blood from freezing in arctic waters. Bsc4, a short non-essential de novo protein in yeast, has been shown to be built mainly by β-sheets and has a hydrophobic core. It is associated to DNA repair under nutrient-deficient conditions. The Drosophila de novo protein Goddard has been characterized for the first time in 2017. Knockdown Drosophila melanogaster male flies were not able to produce sperm. Recently, it could be shown that this lack was due to failure of individualization of elongated spermatids.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
The study Fat Grafting to the Breast Revisited: Safety and Efficacy (2007) indicates that the autologous fat was harvested by liposuction with a 10-ml. syringe attached to a two-hole Coleman harvesting cannula; after centrifugation, the refined breast filler-fat was transferred to 3-ml. syringes. Blunt infiltration cannulas were used to inject the body-fat through 2-mm. incisions; the blunt cannula injection method allowed greater dispersion of small aliquots (equal measures) of body-fat, and reduced the possibility of intravascular fat injection. The 2-mm. incisions were positioned to allow the injection of the fat-grafts from two injection sites; a 0.2 ml fat volume was injected with each withdrawal of the cannula. The breast-contours were realized by layering the fat-grafts at different levels within the breast hemisphere. The fat-graft injection technique allows the plastic surgeon to accurately define the contour of the breast — from the chest wall to the breast-skin envelope— with subcutaneous fat-grafts to the superficial planes of the breast. The greater control in sculpting the contour of the breast is unlike the global augmentation realised with an implant below the breast or below the pectoralis major muscle, respectively expanding the retromammary space and the retropectoral space. The greatest proportion of the grafted fat usually is infiltrated to the pectoralis major muscle, then to the retropectoral space, and to the prepectoral space (before and behind the pectoralis major muscle).
Most pregnant women with sickle cell disease also go on to be single mothers as it is common for them to be left by their male partners who claim they were unaware of their partner's sickle cell disease status. Not only does the abandonment experienced by these women cause emotional distress for them, but this low level of parental support can be linked to depressive symptoms and overall lower quality of life for the child once they are born.
Loeb (1983), billionaire, hedge fund manager, founder of Third Point Management Kai-Fu Lee (1983), Taiwanese IT Venture Capitalist, founder of Google China and Microsoft Research Asia Steve Perlman (1983), founder and CEO of Artemis Networks; inventor of QuickTime, MSN TV, pCell, and Mova Contour facial motion capture technology Jonathan Abbott (1984), president and CEO of WGBH Educational Foundation Randy Lerner (1984), billionaire, ex-owner of Cleveland Browns and Aston Villa F.C., son of billionaire Alfred Lerner '55 James Satloff (1984), founder of Liberty Skis and former president and CEO of C.E.
=== Laboratory Network === Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network Laboratory (Itasca) HSHS St. Mary's Hospital Decatur, IL Illinois State University Loyola University Medical Center SHIELD Illinois Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory at UIC SHIELD Illinois COVID-19 Testing Lab (Springfield) SHIELD T3 Kentucky SHIELD T3 Madison SHIELD T3 UIC Simple Labs University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Annex
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.