Department of Biological Sciences, University of Denver Denver, CO, USA.
Front Neurosci. 2013 Apr 10;7:28. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00028. eCollection 2013.
The melanocortin receptors (MCRs) are a gene family in the rhodopsin class of G protein-coupled receptors. Based on the analysis of several metazoan genome databases it appears that the MCRs are only found in chordates. The presence of five genes in the family (i.e., mc1r, mc2r, mc3r, mc4r, mc5r) in representatives of the tetrapods indicates that the gene family is the result of two genome duplication events and one local gene duplication event during the evolution of the chordates. The MCRs are activated by melanocortin ligands (i.e., ACTH, α-MSH, β-MSH, γ-MSH, δ-MSH) which are all derived from the polypeptide hormone/neuropeptide precursor, POMC, and as a result the functional evolution of the MCRs is intimately associated with the co-evolution of POMC endocrine and neuronal circuits. This review will consider the origin of the MCRs, and discuss the evolutionary relationship between MC2R, MC5R, and MC4R. In addition, this review will analyze the functional evolution of the mc2r gene in light of the co-evolution of the MRAP (Melanocortin-2 Receptor Accessory Protein) gene family.
黑皮质素受体(MCRs)是 G 蛋白偶联受体视紫红质类中的一个基因家族。基于对几个后生动物基因组数据库的分析,似乎 MCRs 仅存在于脊索动物中。在四足动物的代表中,该家族有五个基因(即 mc1r、mc2r、mc3r、mc4r、mc5r)的存在表明,该基因家族是脊索动物进化过程中两次基因组复制事件和一次局部基因复制事件的结果。MCRs 被黑皮质素配体(即 ACTH、α-MSH、β-MSH、γ-MSH、δ-MSH)激活,这些配体均来自多肽激素/神经肽前体 POMC,因此 MCRs 的功能进化与 POMC 内分泌和神经元回路的共同进化密切相关。这篇综述将考虑 MCRs 的起源,并讨论 MC2R、MC5R 和 MC4R 之间的进化关系。此外,本综述还将根据 MRAP(黑素皮质素-2 受体辅助蛋白)基因家族的共同进化,分析 mc2r 基因的功能进化。