Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone
also called intermedin or melanotropin



any of several peptides secreted primarily by the pituitary gland, which regulates the synthesis of pigment granules (melanin) in specialized cells and thereby influences changes in skin pigmentation. MSH also regulates the concentration and distribution of melanin within the pigment-containing cells (i.e., melanocytes in humans and chromatophores in lower vertebrates). MSH is produced and secreted by the intermediate lobe of the pituitary gland in most vertebrates. Following secretion, the hormone circulates in the blood and binds to receptors expressed on the surfaces of target cells.

In the pituitary gland MSH is generated through the cleavage of a precursor protein called prioopiomelanocortin (POMC). This cleavage results in three fragments, one of which is adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). The ACTH fragment can be further cleaved to form ?-MSH, and the other two large fragments of the POMC precursor are cleaved to form ?-MSH and ?-MSH. ?-MSH contains 13 amino acids, which are found in the same sequence in all species studied; ?-MSH has 18 amino acids in sequences that vary in different species; and ?-MSH contains 11 amino acids, which appear to occur in the same sequence in different species.

In mammals MSH is known to influence behaviour, to suppress appetite, and to increase the total amount of pigment in the skin. In humans, exposure to sunlight stimulates the production and secretion of MSH, which causes the skin to darken. Administration of large doses of MSH induces skin darkening in the absence of exposure to sunlight. This darkening results from a change in the total amount of melanin present in the melanocytes. MSH is especially important in the regulation of melanin synthesis in cells called melanophores (a type of chromatophore) that are in the skin of amphibians, some fishes, and reptiles. Light reflected from a water surface stimulates photoreceptors, which send information to the brain and in turn to the hypothalamus. Pituitary MSH then causes the pigment in the melanophores to disperse and the skin to darken, sometimes quite dramatically. By releasing more or less MSH, the animal is able to adapt its colouring to its background.

Sept, 2009