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Updated: Aug 2, 2026

Pharmacologic Induction of Epidermal Melanin and Protection Against Sunburn in a Humanized Mouse Model
Published on: September 7, 2013
Unusual genomic structure: melanocortin receptors in Fugu
Helgi B Schiöth1, Tatjana Haitina, Davids Fridmanis
1Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Biomedical Center, Sweden. helgis@bmc.uu.se
Abstract:
The melanocortin (MC) receptors are found in five subtypes in mammals and chicken, while recent studies have shown that the Fugu (Takifugu rubripes) genome has only four MC receptors and the zebrafish genome has six subtypes. The MC3 receptor seems to be missing from the two closely related pufferfishes, Fugu and Tetraodon (Tetraodon nigroviridis). The MC2 and MC5 receptors in the pufferfish have introns. Moreover, these two receptors are found in a tandem that is remarkably conserved in several vertebrate species. Here, we speculate about the genomic origin of the MC receptors.
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