黑皮质素受体-4:生物学特征、作用机理和影响因素

Melanocortin-4 Receptor: Biological Characteristics,Mechanism and Influence Factors

黑皮质素受体4(MC4R)是G-蛋白耦联受体(GPCR),是下丘脑分泌的一种肽类物质,在调控动物采食量中起着重要的作用。MC4R与阿黑皮质素原(POMC)分泌的α-促黑素(α-MSH)结合,激活下丘脑MC4R神经元的表达,从而抑制采食量。本文综述了MC4R的生物学特征及其在动物采食量调控中的作用机理,并阐述了影响MC4R活性的因素。

The melanocortin-4 receptor （ MC4R） is a typical G protein-coupled receptor （ GPCR） which pres-ents in the hypothalamus as a peptide, and plays an important role in feed intake regulation. It combines withα-melanocyte-stimulating hormone （α-MSH） which is secreted from pro-opiomelanocortin （ POMC） and acti-vates the expression of MC4R neuron to depress the feed intake of animals. The biological characteristics of MC4R and its mechanism in feed intake regulation were reviewed in the article.