Journal
TRENDS IN NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
Volume 1220, Issue -, Pages 34-48Publisher
BLACKWELL SCIENCE PUBL
DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05928.x
Keywords
POMC; evolution; beta-endorphin; melanocortins; alpha-MSH; ACTH
Funding
- NSF [IOB 0516958]
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The proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene was most likely derived from an ancestral opioid-coding gene following the 1R chordate genome duplication event. During the radiation of the jawless fish, the POMC organization plan emerged multiple melanocortin sequences (alpha-MSH/ACTH and beta-MSH) and a C-terminally extended opioid sequence (beta-endorphin). Following the 2R genome duplication event, the gamma-MSH sequence was gained. Among the jawed vertebrates, three distinct trends in the evolution of the POMC gene are apparent: the gain of the delta-MSH sequence (cartilaginous fish), the loss of the gamma-MSH sequence (ray-finned fish), and the retention of the post 2R POMC organization plan (lobe-finned fish/tetrapods). POMC is synthesized in the pituitary gland and in neurons of the hypothalamus, where an array of posttranslational processing mechanisms, such as endoproteolytic cleavage and N-acetylation, generate distinct sets of end-products in these tissues. A striking feature of the melanocortin end-products is the rigorous conservation of the primary sequence of alpha-MSH and the first 25 amino acids of ACTH.
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