POMC · MC1R–MC5R · the melanocortin axis

One precursor protein. A dozen jobs across the body.

Melanocortins govern skin pigmentation, the stress-hormone axis, appetite, energy balance, and inflammation — yet the science is scattered across journals and thin on the open web. This is an attempt to fix that: clearly explained, carefully cited, and built to load fast.

Start with the overviewBrowse the receptors
MC1RSkin & hair pigmentationMC2RAdrenal cortisol (the ACTH receptor)MC3REnergy balance & inflammationMC4RAppetite & body weightMC5RExocrine gland function

How the reference is organised

A pillar-and-cluster knowledge base — broad overviews that link down into specific, citeable detail.

OverviewThe melanocortin systemHow a single precursor — POMC — is cleaved into the peptides that signal across pigmentation, the stress axis, appetite, and inflammation.Read →Five receptorsMC1R through MC5RA page for each receptor: where it lives, what binds it, what it does, and what goes wrong when it fails.Read →PharmacologyTherapeutics & the frontierApproved and investigational melanocortin agents — from setmelanotide and afamelanotide to the emerging pipeline.Read →

Built on honesty

Every page carries a visible author and a last-reviewed date. Therapeutic and clinical-pipeline information is verified against current sources before publication. Where the science is uncertain or contested, the page says so — rather than papering over it.

This is an educational resource, not medical advice.Read the editorial standards →