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Structure of the Human Melanin Concentrating Hormone mRNA

Francoise Presse^*, Jean-Louis Nahon^*, Wolfgang H. Fischer and Wylie Vale

The Clayton Foundation for Peptide Biology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies San Diego, California 92138–9216

Address requests for reprints to: Dr. Wylie Vale, The Clayton Foundation for Peptide Biology Research Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, P.O. Box 85800, San Diego, California 92138–9216.

Abstract

The melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a cyclic neuropeptide which induces skin paling and may be involved in the control of the pituitary adrenal axis in teleost fishes. We have recently cloned and characterized the salmon and rat MCH mRNAs and we report in the present paper the cloning and sequencing of the human counterpart. The deduced human MCH (hMCH) precursor is 165 amino acids long and as for rat and salmon, encodes the MCH peptide at the C-terminus. The human and rat MCH precursors are very similar to one another but differ extensively from the salmon counterpart. Strong sequence conservation was found in the regions of mammalian prohormones encoding the novel putative neuropeptides named NGE and NEI which we had originally identified in the rat MCH precursor. Furthermore, sequence identities, with perhaps functional implications, were found among the MCH, human ANF, and aplysia peptide A hormone precursors.

FOOTNOTES

This research was supported by NIH Program Project Grants DK-26741 and HD-13527, NATO, NSF, Philippe Foundation grants (to J.L.N), La Ligue Francaise contre le Cancer (to F.P. and J.L.N), and I'Association pour la Recherche contre le Cancer (to F.P.). Research conducted in part by the Clayton Foundation for Research, California Division.

^* Present address: Laboratoire de Pharmacologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire, UPR411-CNRS Sophia Antipolis, 06560 Valbonne, France.

Clayton Foundation Investigator.

Received for publication December 12, 1989. Revision received January 17, 1990. Accepted for publication January 24, 1990.

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