Research Article Molecular Mechanism of the Constitutive Activation of the L250Q Human Melanocortin-4 Receptor Polymorphism

The Melanocortin-4 Receptor is a G-protein cou-pled receptor that has been physiologically linked to participate in the regulation of energy homeos-tasis. The Melanocortin-4 Receptor is stimulated by endogenous melanocortin agonists derived from the pro-opiomelanocortin gene transcript and antagonized by the endogenous antagonist agouti-related protein. Central administration of melanocortin agonists has been demonstrated to decrease food intake and conversely, treatment with antagonists resulted in increased food intake. Deletion of the Melanocortin-4 Receptor gene from the mouse genome results in an obese and hyperphagic phenotype. Polymorphisms of the human Melanocortin-4-Receptor have been foun