N-Terminal peptide of proopiomelanocortin
Encyclopedia
The N-terminal peptide/fragment of proopiomelanocortin (NPP; N-POMC), also known as pro-γ-MSH, is a naturally-occurring
, endogenous
metabolite
of the polypeptide proopiomelanocortin
(POMC).
N-POMC is also a precursor
for γ1-MSH, γ2-MSH, and γ3-MSH, and can form them through proteolyic cleavage
.
Natural product
A natural product is a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism - found in nature that usually has a pharmacological or biological activity for use in pharmaceutical drug discovery and drug design...
, endogenous
Endogenous
Endogenous substances are those that originate from within an organism, tissue, or cell. Endogenous retroviruses are caused by ancient infections of germ cells in humans, mammals and other vertebrates...
metabolite
Metabolite
Metabolites are the intermediates and products of metabolism. The term metabolite is usually restricted to small molecules. A primary metabolite is directly involved in normal growth, development, and reproduction. Alcohol is an example of a primary metabolite produced in large-scale by industrial...
of the polypeptide proopiomelanocortin
Proopiomelanocortin
Pro-opiomelanocortin is a precursor polypeptide with 241 amino acid residues. POMC is synthesized from the 285-amino acid long polypeptide precursor, pre-pro-opiomelanocortin , by the removal of a 44-amino acid long signal peptide sequence during translation.The POMC gene is located on chromosome...
(POMC).
N-POMC is also a precursor
Precursor (chemistry)
In chemistry, a precursor is a compound that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound. In biochemistry, the term "precursor" is used more specifically to refer to a chemical compound preceding another in a metabolic pathway....
for γ1-MSH, γ2-MSH, and γ3-MSH, and can form them through proteolyic cleavage
Bond cleavage
Bond cleavage, or scission, is the splitting of chemical bonds.If the two electrons in a cleaved covalent bond are divided between the products, the process is known as homolytic fission and free redicals are generated by homolytic cleavage the process is known as homolytic fission or homolysis...
.