Background Over the past 20 years, insights from human and mouse genetics have
illuminated the central role of the brain leptin-melanocortin pathway in the control of …

The initial discovery that ob/ob mice become obese because of a recessive mutation of the
leptin gene has been crucial to discover the melanocortin pathway to control appetite. In the …

Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) regulate
pigmentation and adrenal cortical function, respectively. These peptides also have a variety …

Target-based drug discovery is the dominant paradigm of drug discovery; however, a
comprehensive evaluation of its real-world efficiency is lacking. Here, a manual systematic …

Background Erythropoietic protoporphyria is a severe photodermatosis that is associated
with acute phototoxicity. Patients with this condition have excruciating pain and a markedly …

Nanomaterials with well-defined size, shape, composition, and surface functionalities offer
multimodal and multifunctional platforms for various bioanalytical, bioimaging, and …

Early diagnosis, accurate staging, and image-guided resection of melanomas remain crucial
clinical objectives for improving patient survival and treatment outcomes. Conventional …

The crystal structure of calcium-bound calmodulin (Ca2+-CaM) bound to a peptide analog of
the CaM-binding region of chicken smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase has been …

Abstract The melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R), a hypothalamic master regulator of energy
homeostasis and appetite, is a class A G-protein-coupled receptor and a prime target for the …

Genetic analysis of mammalian color variation has provided fundamental insight into human
biology and disease. In most vertebrates, two key genes, Agouti and Melanocortin 1 receptor …