MELANOTAN 1: 10 mg ($30)
Overview
Melanotan 1, generic name afamelanotide, is a modified copy of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone that increases melanin production, making the skin appear more “tan”. Two amino acid substitutions make it far more durable than the natural molecule. It is an approved pharmaceutical in the United States and European Union.
In plain terms
Skin pigmentation is produced by cells called melanocytes, which manufacture melanin in response to a hormonal signal. That signal, α-MSH, is naturally very short-lived — it is broken down by enzymes within minutes, so its effect is brief.
Melanotan 1 is the same 13-amino-acid sequence with two positions swapped out. One substitution replaces a methionine that is chemically vulnerable to oxidation; the other replaces a naturally-occurring amino acid with its mirror-image form, which the body's degradative enzymes are poorly equipped to recognize. The result is a molecule that delivers the same signal but persists dramatically longer. It is a clean textbook illustration of how small, targeted substitutions can transform a peptide's stability without changing what it does.
Technical description
Afamelanotide is a synthetic tridecapeptide analogue of α-melanocyte stimulating hormone bearing [Nle4, D-Phe7] substitutions. Norleucine substitution at position 4 eliminates the oxidation-labile methionine, while D-phenylalanine at position 7 confers resistance to proteolytic cleavage, together yielding markedly increased potency and duration relative to native α-MSH.
The peptide is a potent agonist at melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) on melanocytes, a class A GPCR signaling via Gs, adenylyl cyclase, and cAMP/PKA, with downstream activation of MITF-dependent transcription and upregulation of tyrosinase, the rate-limiting enzyme in melanogenesis. This drives eumelanin synthesis. Activity at other melanocortin receptor subtypes is present but MC1R-selectivity is comparatively favorable relative to melanotan II.
- Full name
- Afamelanotide; [Nle4, D-Phe7]-α-MSH
- Synonyms
- Melanotan-1, MT-1, NDP-MSH, Scenesse (brand)
- CAS number
- 75921-69-6
- Molecular formula
- C78H111N21O19
- Molecular weight
- 1646.9 g/mol
- Sequence
- Ac-Ser-Tyr-Ser-Nle-Glu-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly-Lys-Pro-Val-NH2
- Receptor target
- MC1R (primary)
- Appearance
- White lyophilized powder
- Storage
- Lyophilized: −20 °C, protected from light. Reconstituted: 2–8 °C.
Regulatory status
Afamelanotide is an approved prescription pharmaceutical marketed as Scenesse, approved by the FDA in 2019 and previously in the European Union, for a specific rare indication and administered under specialist medical supervision as an implant. Approved status applies to that pharmaceutical product manufactured and released under cGMP. Material supplied for laboratory research is a separate article, is not the approved drug product, and is not manufactured, tested, or released under pharmaceutical standards.