• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.263-271
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• 2010

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) constitute the largest superfamily of cell membrane receptors, mediating diverse signal-transduction pathways. The melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) has been of interest for its physiological role and size, one of the smallest among the GPCRs, which makes it a good model system for the structural study of GPCRs. To study the molecular structure and tissue-specific expression of MC4R in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), the full-length MC4R gene was obtained using PCR amplification of genomic DNA as well as cDNA synthesis. Sequence analysis of the gene indicates that 978 bp of the MC4R gene encodes 325 amino acids without introns. Sequence alignment with the MC4Rs from other fish shows the highest degree of identity (96%) between Paralichthys olivaceous and Verasper moseri, followed by Takifugu rubripes and Tetraodon nigroviridis (89%). RNA was isolated from various tissues to examine the tissue distribution of MC4R by using RT-PCR. The results showed major expression of MC4R in the liver, brain, and eye, which is consistent with the expression pattern in other fish belonging to the order Pleuronectiformes.

• Genes and Genomics
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.1119-1125
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• 2018

Melanocortin 4 receptor: (MC4R) and Myostatin (MSTN) are two important growth trait-related genes in animals. In this study, we showed that two SNPs, MC4R-719A>G and MSTN-519C>T, found in the promoters of the MC4R and MSTN genes, respectively, are both associated with growth traits in Spinibarbus hollandi. Furthermore, we observed that there were significant associations between the expression levels of the MC4R and MSTN genes and these two growth trait-related SNPs. The expression level of MC4R gene in brain was lower in GG genotype fish with extremely high growth performance than that in AA genotype fish with extremely low growth performance. Expression level of the MSTN gene in muscle was lower in TT genotype fish with extremely high growth performance than that in CC and CT genotype fish with lower growth performance. The results indicated that these SNPs located in the promoters of MC4R and MSTN are associated with growth-related traits through modification of gene expression levels. The MSTN and MC4R SNPs may have useful application in effective marker-assisted selection aimed to increase output in S. hollandi.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.437-442
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• 2007

The melanocortin-4 receptor(MC4R) is virtually expressed in all brain regions and plays an important role in energy homeostasis in mammals. MC4R has been intensively studied as a trait gene controlling economically important traits, such as growth and feed conversion, etc. Six hundreds and sixty Duroc pigs were genotyped for the MC4R locus and analyzed their relationships with breeding values for average daily gain(ADG), backfat thickness(BF), days to 90kg(D90) and feed conversion(FC). The estimated genotype frequencies for the all Duroc pigs were: 30.8%, 45.2%, 24.1% for AA, AB and BB genotypes, respectively. The mutant A allele was significantly associated with ADG, D90 and BF whereas no significant relationship was found with FC. The change of gene frequencies by generation was shown in both selected and culled groups. These results indicate that the MC4R polymorphism could be integrated in the present selection program to realize a marker-assisted selection for the growth traits of the Duroc population.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.763-768
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• 2006

Genetic and pharmacological studies in mice have demonstrated a complementary role for the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) in the control of food intake, energy balance and body weight. This study was designed to investigate the associations of a MC4R gene polymorphism on chicken growth and body composition traits in broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat. A SNP (G54C) was found in CDS region of chicken MC4R gene. The analysis of the least squares and variance revealed a significant association between the G54C SNP and BW, CW and SL at 7 wk of age, and there were significant differences in different genotypes (p<0.05). The results from protein secondary structure prediction and tertiary structure prediction showed that it appeared a helix in $13^{th}$ amino acid and two strands at $14^{th}$ and $15^{th}$ amino acid in mutant protein, respectively. It maybe induce the change of the activity or function of MC4R gene in poultry.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.6 s.73
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• pp.968-971
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• 2005

The Melanocortin-4 receptor gene (MC4R) regulates the energy balance and the genetic basis of obesity. A polymorphism in the porcine melanocortin-4 receptor has previously shown to be associated with growth, fat deposition and feed intake. In this study, the polymorphism of the gene was studied in several pig breeds of Duroc, Landrace, Berkshire, and Yorkshire. The results showed that the frequencies of MC4R genotype varied among those breeds. Association analyses were also performed between the MC4R polymorphism and average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, backfat thickness and lean percentage phenotypes. The results strongly support that the MC4R polymorphism can be used DNA marker selection indicator for economically important traits for pig breeding program in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.34-45
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• 2012

Melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) subtype is associated with obese humans. Especially, in a patient with severe early-onset obesity, novel heterozygous mutation in the MC4R gene was detected, resulting in an exchange of aspartic acid to asparagine in $90^{th}$ amino acid residue located in the predicted second trans-membrane domain (TM2). Mutations in the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) gene are the most frequent monogenic causes of severe obesity which have been described as heterozygous with loss of function. In order to compare structure difference between MC4R wild type (MC4R-TM2-wt) and mutant (MC4R-TM2-D90N), we designed both MC4R-TM2-wt and MC4R-TM2-D90N construct in pET 21b vector. In this study, we optimized high-yield purification procedure for recombinant TM2-D90N. Eluted recombinant protein was resolubilized under urea condition for thrombin cleavage reaction and we conducted the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with reverse phase column under 1% acetonitrile, 0.01% TFA buffer solution. The molecular size of purified target peptide was confirmed by Tricine-SDS page analysis. To characterize MC4R-TM2-D90N, we have performed $^{15}N$-isotope labeling of peptide using M9 media and purified labeled target peptide for hetero-nuclear NMR spectroscopy.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.1350-1356
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• 2023

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate polymorphisms of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) and insulin like growth factor 2 (IGF2) genes and to evaluate the growth traits affected by such polymorphisms in Thai native (Kradon) pigs. Methods: Blood samples and productive data from 91 Kradon pigs were collected. DNA was extracted and quantified, the IGF2 and MC4R genes were amplified, and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) produces were digested using the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. Genotyping was performed, and the association between genotypes and growth traits on the birth and weaning weights were evaluated. Results: The IGF2 intron7 g.162G>C variations in Kradon pigs were found in three genotypes: i) GG, ii) GC, and iii) CC. The GG genotype frequency was the highest followed by the GC and CC genotypes. The frequencies of the G and C alleles were 0.703 and 0.297, respectively. The MC4R genotype was found in only one genotype (GG). The IGF2 gene pattern was not associated with birth weight traits, whereas the IGF2 gene pattern was related to the weaning weight trait in Kradon pigs. Pigs with the CC and GC genotypes had higher weaning weights than ones with the GG genotype (p<0.001). Conclusion: Thai native Kradon pigs with the CC and GC genotypes of the IGF2 gene have higher weaning weights than pigs with the GG genotype.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.939-948
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• 2019

Objective: Extension and Agouti loci play a key role for proportions of eumelanin and pheomelanin in determining coat color in several species, including goat. Mongolian goats exhibit diverse types of coat color phenotypes. In this study, investigation of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) coding region in different coat colors in Mongolian goats was performed to ascertain the presence of the extension allele. Methods: A total of 105 goat samples representing three goat breeds were collected for this study from middle Mongolia. A 938 base pair (bp) long coding region of the MC1R gene was sequenced for three different breeds with different coat colors (Gobi Gurwan Saikhan: complete black, Zalaa Jinstiin Tsagaan: complete white, Mongolian native goat: admixture of different of coat colors). The genotypes of these goats were obtained from analyzing and comparing the sequencing results. Results: A total of seven haplotypes defined by five substitution were identified. The five single nucleotide polymorphisms included two synonymous mutations (c.183C>T and c.489G>A) and three missense (non-synonymous) mutations (c.676A>G, c.748T>G, and c.770T>A). Comparison of genotypes frequencies of two common missense mutions using chi-sqaure ($x^2$) test revealed significant differences between coat color groups (p<0.001). A logistic regression analysis additionally suggested highly significant association between genotypes and variation of black versus white uniform combination. Alternatively, most investigated goats (60.4%) belonged to H2 (TGAGT) haplotype. Conclusion: According to the findings obtained in this study on the investigated coat colors, mutations in MC1R gene may have the crucial role for determining eumelanin and pheomelanin phenotypes. Due to the complication of coat color phenotype, more detailed investigation needed.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.369-374
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to differentiate the beef species between Hanwoo and Holstein from a total of 1,081 beef samples using PCR-RFLP of MC1R gene. When a PCR product of 403 bp specific band amplified from bovine MC1R gene sequence was digested with restriction enzyme MspA1I, Hanwoo type showed 2 bands, 220 bp and 183 bp size bands. Holstein type, however, showed three bands, 220 bp, 138 bp and 45 bp size band, respectively. The results of the differential test for beef species were as following; 7 samples (0.64%) were determined to Holstein type, of which 4 were submitted from administrative authorities, other 3 from self-collection planing, and none from civilian clients including school.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1542-1547
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• 2005

The Melanocortin-4 Receptor (MC4R) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2) are two important candidate genes related to fat deposition and carcass traits. MC4R was found on study on human obesity and then was studied as candidate gene affecting food intake and fat deposition traits in mice and pigs. Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2) gene plays an important role on tumor cell proliferation and muscle growth. It also affects fat traits and live weight in pigs. In this paper, MC4R and IGF2 were studied as two candidate genes associated with important economic traits such as fat deposition and carcass traits in five different pig populations. Taq I-PCR-RFLP and Bcn I-PCR-RFLP were respectively used to detect the polymorphism of genotypes of MC4R and IGF2 genes. Different MC4R genotype frequencies were observed in four populations. IGF2 genotype frequencies were also different in two populations. The results of association analysis show both MC4R and IGF2 genes were significantly associated with fat deposition and carcass traits in about 300 pigs. This work will add new evidence of MC4R and IGF2 affecting fat deposition and carcass traits in pigs and show that two genes can be used as important candidate genes for marker assistant selection (MAS) of growth and lean meat percentage in pigs.