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For laboratory research use only. Not for human or veterinary use.
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Cyclic α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogue
Also catalogued as MT-II, Melanotan II, Ac-Nle-cyclo[Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-NH2.
Seven residues, written Ac-Nle-cyclo[Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-NH2. There is no one-letter string for it: norleucine and D-phenylalanine are not standard L-residues, and the six residues in brackets are closed into a ring by a lactam bond between the aspartate side chain and the lysine side chain rather than running end to end.
Melanotan-2 is a cyclic synthetic analogue of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, shortened from the hormone’s thirteen residues to seven. Six of those seven are constrained into a ring by a lactam bridge formed between an aspartate side chain and a lysine side chain, which holds the message sequence in a fixed conformation that the linear hormone samples only transiently.
It was designed by Al-Obeidi, Hadley, Pettitt and Hruby at the University of Arizona and reported in 1989, using quenched molecular dynamics to choose where to close the ring. It is produced by chemical synthesis and has no natural source.
Melanotan-2 is a research chemical. It is not an approved drug in any jurisdiction.
Al-Obeidi F, Hadley ME, Pettitt BM, Hruby VJ Design of a new class of superpotent cyclic alpha-melanotropins based on quenched dynamic simulations. Journal of the American Chemical Society 1989;111(9):3413–3416.
Citation titles are reproduced verbatim from the journal record. A citation documents the molecule's published identity and history; it is not a claim about the material sold here.