A practical reference on MC1R: what it is, how it behaves, what the literature reports, and where the honest uncertainties sit.
This page was last updated on 2026-05-02 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
Receptor binding at MC1R on melanocytes raises intracellular cyclic AMP and increases expression of tyrosinase and related enzymes. The downstream result is greater synthesis of eumelanin, the dark pigment, without ultraviolet exposure acting as the trigger. The compound is not selective, however, and also engages MC3R, MC4R and MC5R, which are expressed in the central nervous system and elsewhere. That lack of selectivity is the explanation usually offered for effects reported outside pigmentation, including appetite suppression and nausea. Selectivity remains a central theme in comparative studies of related peptides.
Human data remain limited and mostly short-term. Reports describe small trials and observational accounts rather than large controlled studies, so questions about dose-response relationships and long-term effects on melanocytes stay open. Whether repeated exposure alters naevus behaviour is not settled in the published record. Researchers also note that self-administered use outside clinical settings makes actual exposure difficult to quantify. Statements about efficacy and safety should therefore be read as preliminary rather than established.
Melanotan II is a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide that acts as an agonist at melanocortin receptors. It was designed as a structural analogue of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, the endogenous peptide involved in pigment production. The analogue carries a lactam bridge that constrains the ring and slows enzymatic breakdown relative to the native hormone. In research literature it appears under several abbreviations, and naming conventions are not fully standardized. Published descriptions usually place it within the broader melanocortin agonist family.
Lyophilised melanotan-2 is comparatively robust when kept dry, cold and dark, and a desiccated powder stored at minus twenty degrees Celsius or below is generally expected to retain its chemical integrity for extended periods. In solution the peptide is far less stable, with degradation proceeding through oxidation of tryptophan and histidine residues, hydrolysis adjacent to the lactam bridge, and aggregation at higher concentrations. Repeated freeze-thaw cycling accelerates loss of the parent peak. Working aliquots are therefore prepared once, held cold, and used without letting the stock return to ambient temperature.
Quality assessment of research-grade peptide rests mainly on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography for purity and on mass spectrometry for identity confirmation. A single main peak above a stated threshold, commonly ninety-eight percent by peak area, is the usual release criterion applied by suppliers. Independent analyses commissioned by laboratories and consumer organisations have repeatedly reported discrepancies between label claims and measured content, including truncated sequences, residual trifluoroacetate, and lower-than-declared peptide mass. Those findings do not establish that every supplier is unreliable, but they indicate that purity figures printed on a vial are claims requiring verification rather than settled facts.
Regulatory treatment varies by jurisdiction and has changed over time. In several countries the peptide is handled as an unapproved prescription medicine, and import or sale for human use is restricted, while elsewhere it falls under poisons or controlled-substance schedules. Enforcement activity against online vendors has been reported in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Scholarly writing discusses melanotan-2 chiefly as an experimental tool and as a case study in unregulated peptide supply, and its precise legal position in any given country should be checked against current national schedules.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | Synthetic cyclic heptapeptide | Melanocortin receptor agonist |
| Molecular formula | C50H69N15O9 | Neutral form, mass near 1024.2 g/mol |
| Primary targets | MC1R, MC3R, MC4R, MC5R | Binding is non-selective across subtypes |
| Related compounds | Alpha-MSH, melanotan I, afamelanotide | Structurally or functionally related peptides |
| Common abbreviations | MT-II, MT-2 | Naming in the literature is not uniform |
Melanotan II is a synthetic peptide analog modeled on alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, a naturally occurring signaling peptide involved in pigmentation. Its structure is a cyclic heptapeptide containing two non-natural substitutions, norleucine at position four and D-phenylalanine at position seven. These modifications resist enzymatic breakdown and extend the molecule's activity relative to the native hormone. The compound binds melanocortin receptors and is studied mainly as a pharmacological tool rather than a therapeutic product. It has never received approval as a medicine in any major jurisdiction.
The compound was developed in the late 1980s and 1990s by academic researchers investigating photoprotection. The rationale held that stimulating melanin production might reduce ultraviolet damage to skin and lower skin cancer risk. Early work examined receptor binding, pigment response, and short-term tolerability in small studies. That program did not produce an approved drug, and formal development stalled after early-phase trials. Whether induced pigmentation confers meaningful photoprotection remains an open question.
Outside regulated medicine, melanotan II circulates through online vendors as a research chemical, often marketed for tanning. Products sold this way vary widely in purity, concentration, and labeling accuracy, and independent testing has documented discrepancies. Published reports describe both pigment effects and adverse reactions, including nausea, flushing, and darkening of existing moles. Long-term safety data are sparse, and no large controlled trial has established a risk profile. Questions about cumulative effects on melanocytes remain unresolved in the literature.
Scientific discussion of Melanotan-2 spans pharmacology, dermatology, and public-health literature. Laboratory studies examine its receptor binding and cellular effects, while clinical reports describe outcomes observed after unregulated use. These two bodies of work differ in rigour and intent. Peer-reviewed trials of the compound as a medicine are limited, so much of the available information comes from case reports and surveillance data. Authors frequently note the gap between experimental findings and real-world use.
Reported observations after unregulated use include shifts in skin pigmentation and, in some accounts, unintended changes to moles and other lesions. Whether these outcomes are causally linked to the compound, and how often they occur, remain open questions because controlled data are scarce. The absence of standardised dosing and verified product purity complicates interpretation. Researchers have called for better surveillance and analytical characterisation of samples obtained outside regulated channels. Conclusions drawn from anecdotal evidence should be treated as provisional.
Melanotan II is a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide analogue of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, a naturally occurring peptide involved in pigmentation signalling. Its structure substitutes a lactam bridge between side chains to increase stability relative to the native hormone. The compound is also known by the shorthand MT-II and by several non-proprietary synonyms used in research catalogues. It is not an approved therapeutic product in any major jurisdiction; material sold under this name is typically offered as a laboratory reagent rather than as a medicine.
Activity is attributed to agonism at melanocortin receptors, particularly MC1R and MC4R. Activation of MC1R on melanocytes increases melanin synthesis, which underlies the reported tanning effect. MC4R engagement in the central nervous system is linked to appetite suppression and to effects on sexual arousal reported in early clinical studies. Those studies were small and were not designed to establish efficacy or long-term safety. Receptor selectivity among the melanocortin subtypes is not absolute, which complicates attribution of any effect to a single pathway.
Regulatory treatment varies between countries. Several national medicines agencies have classified the peptide as unapproved, and customs authorities in some jurisdictions seize shipments on that basis. A few jurisdictions channel supply through prescription-only frameworks that do not list the substance by name. Because the material circulates mainly through online vendors, composition and purity are rarely verified before sale. Surveys of unapproved peptide products have reported labels that did not match measured content in a substantial fraction of samples.
The skin of a teleost is largely impermeable to water, and the main interface between the fish's body and its surroundings is the gills. In freshwater, teleost fish gain water across their gills by osmosis, while in seawater they lose it. Similarly, salts diffuse outwards across the gills in freshwater and inwards in salt water. The European flounder spends most of its life in the sea but often migrates into estuaries and rivers. In the sea in one hour, it can gain Na+ ions equivalent to forty percent of its total free sodium content, with 75 percent of this entering through the gills and the remainder through drinking. By contrast, in rivers there is an exchange of just two percent of the body Na+ content per hour. As well as being able to selectively limit salt and water exchanged by diffusion, there is an active mechanism across the gills for the elimination of salt in sea water and its uptake in fresh water.
== Pathophysiology == Ketones are primarily produced from free fatty acids in the mitochondria of liver cells. The production of ketones is strongly regulated by insulin and an absolute or relative lack of insulin underlies the pathophysiology of ketoacidosis. Insulin is a potent inhibitor of fatty acid release, so insulin deficiency can cause an uncontrolled release of fatty acids from adipose tissue. Insulin deficiency can also enhance ketone production and inhibit peripheral use of ketones. This can occur during states of complete insulin deficiency (such as untreated diabetes) or relative insulin deficiency in states of elevated glucagon and counter-regulatory hormones (such as starvation, heavy chronic alcohol use or illness). Acetoacetic acid and β-hydroxybutyrate are the most abundant circulating ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are acidic; however, at physiologic concentrations, the body's acid/base buffering system prevents them from changing blood pH.
=== Principal positions === Starting as a biochemist at the United States Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland from 1941 to 1959, Horecker moved to the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, until 1963, then at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in Nutley, New Jersey and finally at Cornell University.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Ionization source == The filaments used are made from tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), platinum (Pt) or rhenium (Re). Conventionally, there are two filaments used in TIMS. One filament is for the sample and is called the sample filament. The liquid sample is placed on the sample filament which is then evaporated. Subsequently, these evaporated analytes land on the other filament, also known as the ionization filament, where it is ionized.
== Locations == Most Pyongyang restaurants are found near the North Korean border in China, as well as in Beijing and Shanghai. Since the 2000s, the chain has been expanding into South and Southeast Asian cities including Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Vientiane, Dhaka, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur. There are also restaurants in Ulaanbaatar, Vladivostok, Moscow, and Kathmandu. The restaurants initially catered to the many South Korean businessmen in Southeast Asia, and have now become popular with curious tourists. The first Western outpost of the restaurant chain was opened in Amsterdam in 2012, in the residential neighbourhood of Osdorp, along with Dutch co-owners. The menu and policies of this restaurant differed from its Asian counterparts. However, in September 2012, amid mutual accusations between the Korean staff and the Dutch partner, the restaurant closed. It reopened in December 2013 under the name Haedanghwa in a new location, but closed a year later. The restaurant's locations in Bangkok were temporarily shut down, but were re-opened again in 2015. Similarly, their branches in Pattaya were closed down. The branch in Ho Chi Minh City closed down in 2017 and the branch in Hanoi shut down in 2020. It was reported that a new branch was set to open in Scotland, in line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's interest in the country after its 2014 independence referendum, although this has been denied by North Korean officials. In 2017, there are some 100 North Korean restaurants in China alone.
Relaxin/insulin-like family peptide receptor 2, also known as RXFP2, is a human G-protein coupled receptor. The receptors for glycoprotein hormones such as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH; see MIM 136530) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH; see MIM 188540) are G protein-coupled, 7-transmembrane receptors (GPCRs) with large N-terminal extracellular domains. Leucine-rich repeat (LRR)-containing GPCRs (LGRs) form a subgroup of the GPCR superfamily. [supplied by OMIM].
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Substituting formaldehyde by other aldehydes or ketones results in a 2-substituted 1,3-dioxolane (yield: 70–85%, catalyst: tetraethylammonium bromide). Catalytic hydroformylation of ethylene oxide gives hydroxypropanal which can be hydrogenated to propane-1,3-diol:
The outer edge is then curled down and around about 140 degrees using rollers to create the end curl. The result is a steel tube with a flanged edge, and a countersunk steel disc with a curled edge. A rubber compound is put inside the curl.
=== Use as psychoactive drugs === Preparations of plants and fungi containing alkaloids and their extracts, and later pure alkaloids, have long been used as psychoactive substances. Cocaine, caffeine, and cathinone are stimulants of the central nervous system. Mescaline and many indole alkaloids (such as psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine and ibogaine) have hallucinogenic effect. Morphine and codeine are strong narcotic pain killers. There are alkaloids that do not have strong psychoactive effect themselves, but are precursors for semi-synthetic psychoactive drugs. For example, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are used to produce methcathinone and methamphetamine. Thebaine is used in the synthesis of many painkillers such as oxycodone.
Biosynthetic human insulin (insulin human rDNA, INN) for clinical use is manufactured by recombinant DNA technology. Biosynthetic human insulin has increased purity when compared with extractive animal insulin, enhanced purity reducing antibody formation. Researchers have succeeded in introducing the gene for human insulin into plants as another method of producing insulin ("biopharming") in safflower. This technique is anticipated to reduce production costs. Several analogs of human insulin are available. These insulin analogs are closely related to the human insulin structure, and were developed for specific aspects of glycemic control in terms of fast action (prandial insulins) and long action (basal insulins). The first biosynthetic insulin analog was developed for clinical use at mealtime (prandial insulin), Humalog (insulin lispro), it is more rapidly absorbed after subcutaneous injection than regular insulin, with an effect 15 minutes after injection. Other rapid-acting analogues are NovoRapid and Apidra, with similar profiles. All are rapidly absorbed due to amino acid sequences that will reduce formation of dimers and hexamers (monomeric insulins are more rapidly absorbed). Fast acting insulins do not require the injection-to-meal interval previously recommended for human insulin and animal insulins. The other type is long acting insulin; the first of these was Lantus (insulin glargine). These have a steady effect for an extended period from 18 to 24 hours. Likewise, another protracted insulin analogue (Levemir) is based on a fatty acid acylation approach.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is a synthetic cyclic heptapeptide and a non-selective melanocortin receptor agonist. Structurally it is modelled on alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, a peptide that occurs naturally in the body.
Activation of MC1R increases pigment synthesis independently of ultraviolet exposure, which is the mechanism usually cited for darkening without sun exposure. Ultraviolet light still influences skin response through separate biological pathways.
Because the peptide binds several melanocortin receptor subtypes, its effects are not confined to pigmentation. This complicates interpretation of both intended and unintended outcomes reported in studies.
Solutions are best kept cold, protected from light, and buffered to a pH that limits hydrolysis. Dividing a stock into single-use aliquots avoids repeated freeze-thaw cycles, which measurably reduce the intact parent peak over time.