The short version of alpha-MSH fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
Reviewed 2026-04-04. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
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.
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.
Identity and purity are usually assessed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, which separates the target peptide from truncated or oxidised impurities. Mass spectrometry, most often coupled to liquid chromatography, confirms molecular mass and detects substitutions that chromatography alone may miss. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping supply additional structural evidence, while nuclear magnetic resonance is reserved for full structural confirmation. Laboratories that examine samples sold online report wide variation in actual content, with some vials containing little or none of the labelled material.
Melanotan-2 appears on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list within the peptide hormone class, and several national regulators treat it as an unapproved prescription substance. Some countries restrict importation or sale for personal use. Because the compound is widely traded as a research chemical, the practical legal picture differs between jurisdictions and shifts over time. Human safety data covering long periods are limited, and whether repeated pigmentation changes carry any lasting risk to melanocytes remains an open question.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular formula | C50H69N15O9 | Free base; salt forms differ |
| Molecular weight | Approximately 1024 g/mol | Calculated for the free base |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Typically supplied as a lyophilised solid |
| Solubility | Soluble in water and polar solvents | Poorly soluble in non-polar solvents |
| Typical storage | -20 degrees Celsius, dry, protected from light | Refers to the solid form |
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.
Solid peptide kept dry at minus twenty degrees Celsius, shielded from light and moisture, is generally considered stable for extended periods. Solutions are divided into single-use aliquots and held at minus twenty or minus eighty degrees Celsius, because repeated freeze-thaw cycles promote aggregation and loss of material to container surfaces. Hydrolysis of the backbone and oxidation of tryptophan are the principal degradation routes in aqueous solution, and both accelerate at ambient temperature. Hygroscopic uptake after a vial is opened can also shift the actual mass weighed, which affects any concentration calculated from it.
Routine characterisation relies on reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection near 214 nanometres, using a C18 column and a water-acetonitrile gradient containing trifluoroacetic acid. Electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry confirms the expected molecular mass and can reveal truncated or oxidised by-products that co-elute poorly. Sequence and stereochemistry require additional work, such as peptide mapping or amino acid analysis, because a chromatographic purity figure alone does not distinguish a diastereomer from the target peptide. Independent testing of research-grade material frequently shows measured content below the stated label, so a certificate of analysis is best read together with the method that produced it.
=== Metals === The biological half-life of caesium in humans is between one and four months. This can be shortened by feeding the person prussian blue. The prussian blue in the digestive system acts as a solid ion exchanger which absorbs the caesium while releasing potassium ions. For some substances, it is important to think of the human or animal body as being made up of several parts, each with its own affinity for the substance, and each part with a different biological half-life (physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modelling). Attempts to remove a substance from the whole organism may have the effect of increasing the burden present in one part of the organism. For instance, if a person who is contaminated with lead is given EDTA in a chelation therapy, then while the rate at which lead is lost from the body will be increased, the lead within the body tends to relocate into the brain where it can do the most harm.
== Family == In 1890, Thomson married Rose Elisabeth Paget at the church of St Mary the Less. Rose, who was the daughter of Sir George Edward Paget, a physician and then Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge, was interested in physics. Beginning in 1882, women could attend demonstrations and lectures at the University of Cambridge. Rose attended demonstrations and lectures, among them Thomson's, leading to their relationship. They had two children: George Paget Thomson, who was also awarded a Nobel Prize for his work on the wave properties of the electron; and Joan Paget Thomson (later Charnock), who became an author—writing children's books, non-fiction, and biographies.
Nostalgia for the Soviet Union is gradually on the rise in Russia. Communist symbols continue to form an important part of the rhetoric used in state-controlled media, as banning on them in other countries is seen by the Russian foreign ministry as "sacrilege" and "a perverse idea of good and evil". The process of decommunization in Ukraine, a neighbouring post-Soviet state, was met with fierce criticism by Russia. The State Anthem of the Russian Federation, adopted in 2000 (the same year Vladimir Putin began his first term as president of Russia), uses the exact same music as the State Anthem of the Soviet Union, but with new lyrics written by Sergey Mikhalkov. Conversely, decommunization in Ukraine started during and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. With the success of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, the Ukrainian government approved laws that outlawed communist symbols. In July 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a set of laws that started a six-month period for the removal of communist monuments (excluding World War II monuments) and renaming of public places named after communist-related themes. At the time, this meant that 22 cities and 44 villages were set to get new names. In 2016, 51,493 streets and 987 cities and villages were renamed, and 1,320 Lenin monuments and 1,069 monuments to other communist figures removed. Violation of the law carries a penalty of a potential media ban and prison sentences of up to five years.
November 14, 2008: Eurozone Taken as a whole the Eurozone officially slips under, pushed down by recessions in Germany and Italy for its first recession since its creation in 1999. These 15 countries are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain. On January 1, 2009, Slovakia adopted the euro, and so is now part of the Eurozone. Though the Eurozone suffers from recession as a whole, Belgium, France, Greece, and Slovakia still have better growth.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Music === Cold Case Files (2008) and Cold Case Files Vol. 2 (2012) are compilation albums by the rap group Onyx. "Cold Case Love" is a song on Rihanna's Rated R album, released November 23, 2009 on the Def Jam label. "Stella: The Cold Case" is an EP by Aafke Romeijn.
==== Interferon production and signal transduction inhibition ==== The virus prevents the stimulation of type 1 IFN production and subsequent cell apoptosis in response to virus infection by inhibiting the activation of IRF-3. Two virus proteins: C and V are mainly involved in this process. SeV can attenuate cell defense mechanisms and allow itself to escape from host innate immunity by inhibiting the interferon response pathway in addition to inhibiting the interferon production. The table below demonstrates the inhibition mechanism.
=== Pharmacological === Certain drugs or exogenous chemical compounds are known to affect inflammation. Vitamin A deficiency, for example, causes an increase in inflammatory responses, and anti-inflammatory drugs work specifically by inhibiting the enzymes that produce inflammatory eicosanoids. Additionally, certain illicit drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy may exert some of their detrimental effects by activating transcription factors intimately involved with inflammation (e.g. NF-κB).
He also contributed greatly to the identification of vitamin B complex and was co-author of more than 780 scientific papers on biochemistry and nutrition. Elvehjem commented frequently on nutrition as it affects both scientist and layman. "Vitamins should be obtained from natural foods if possible", he cautioned. "Generally they are cheaper, more palatable, and in better balance with other factors when taken in this form." He acknowledged the value of synthetic vitamins in treating deficiency diseases, but warned that their use should be temporary. Elvehjem's first graduate student (in 1931) was noted nutritionist Fredrick John Stare (1910–2002) who later founded and chaired the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he served until 1976. Elvehjem met his wife Constance W. Elvehjem when she was an undergraduate at UW Madison. She died in 1999 at the age of 94 after many years supporting the museum and the Madison community. Elvehjem was stricken with a heart attack at his desk on the morning of July 27, 1962, at the age of sixty-one and died within the hour.
Whereas chaotropic compounds such as ethanol interfere with non-covalent intramolecular forces as outlined above, salts can have chaotropic properties by shielding charges and preventing the stabilization of salt bridges. Hydrogen bonding is stronger in non-polar media, so salts, which increase the chemical polarity of the solvent, can also destabilize hydrogen bonding. Mechanistically this is because there are insufficient water molecules to effectively solvate the ions. This can result in ion-dipole interactions between the salts and hydrogen bonding species which are more favorable than normal hydrogen bonds. Common chaotropic agents include n-butanol, ethanol, guanidinium chloride, lithium perchlorate, lithium acetate, magnesium chloride, phenol, 2-propanol, sodium dodecyl sulfate, thiourea, and urea.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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.
Both are synthetic analogues derived from the same parent hormone. Reference descriptions usually characterise afamelanotide as more selective for the MC1R subtype, whereas melanotan-2 is reported to interact with a wider range of melanocortin receptors.
Early studies explored melanocortin signalling and pigmentation, which later led to informal use of the label tanning peptide. That label is not a regulatory category and does not imply approved status for any purpose.
The lyophilised solid is best kept cold, dry and dark, typically at minus twenty degrees Celsius. Moisture and repeated warming cycles are the main causes of degradation. Solutions prepared from the powder are less stable and are normally used quickly.