Li Lanxin, Huang Jixuan, Chen Yonglong, Ran Rensen
Department of Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Cell Microenvironment and Disease Research, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Cell Microenvironment, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
State Key Laboratory of Female Fertility Promotion, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2025 Jul;38(4):e70033. doi: 10.1111/pcmr.70033.
The melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) is well-established as a pivotal regulator of pigmentation in various species. Despite a wealth of research focused on mammals and fish, the role of Mc1r in amphibians has remained largely unexplored. This study was designed to elucidate the contribution of Mc1r in Xenopus tropicalis. Our results reveal that targeted ablation of mc1r in Xenopus tropicalis led to a significant reduction in dorsal skin pigmentation, while simultaneously accelerating the onset of melanophore pigmentation in the ventral region. This dual effect resulted in a perturbation of the canonical countershading pattern. Additionally, knockout of mc1r disrupted the expression of multiple genes primarily associated with pigmentation. Collectively, these findings underscore the critical role of MC1R in the regulation of pigmentation and the development of countershading in amphibians, contributing to the growing body of literature on the evolution and function of MC1R across vertebrate species.
黑皮质素1受体（MC1R）是各种物种色素沉着的关键调节因子，这一点已得到充分证实。尽管大量研究聚焦于哺乳动物和鱼类，但Mc1r在两栖动物中的作用在很大程度上仍未被探索。本研究旨在阐明Mc1r在热带爪蟾中的作用。我们的结果表明，在热带爪蟾中靶向敲除mc1r会导致背部皮肤色素沉着显著减少，同时加速腹部区域黑素细胞色素沉着的开始。这种双重作用导致了典型反荫蔽模式的紊乱。此外，敲除mc1r会破坏多个主要与色素沉着相关的基因的表达。总的来说，这些发现强调了MC1R在两栖动物色素沉着调节和反荫蔽发育中的关键作用，为关于MC1R在脊椎动物物种中的进化和功能的文献增添了内容。
