Meeting Abstract

23.3  Friday, Jan. 4  Humans are also mammals; using the human melanocortin-2 receptor as a model for analyzing the evolution of MC2Rs. DORES, R.M.*; LIANG, L.; Univ. of Denver, Denver rdores@du.edu

Studies on the human melanocortin-2 receptor indicate that: a) this MC2R can only be activated by ACTH, but not by any of the MSH-sized melanocortins; b) human MC2R requires interaction with the accessory protein MRAP1 for functional activation; 3) spontaneous mutations in the human gene can result in either loss of function mutations or trafficking impaired mutants. This information can be used as a reference point for evaluating the evolution of MC2R orthologs in non-anmiote tetrapods, teleosts, and cartilaginous fishes. From these comparisons it is possible to re-construct the functional evolution of the melanocortin-2 receptor, a critical component in the HPA/HPI of teleosts and tetrapods.