• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.442-448
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• 2003

Melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) regulating color change of fish skin was identified from brain cDNA library of Olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) during the analysis of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs). Olive flounder MCH gene consisted of 598 nucleotides encoding 150 amino acids. Olive flounder MCH protein revealed to contain signal peptide of 19 amino acid residues, pro-MCH of 131 amino acids being processed to biologically active and mature form of hormone with 25 amino acid residues at the carboxyl terminus. A comparative structural analysis revealed that Olive flounder MCH precursor had low sequence identity with other fish species and mammalian counterparts, while the amino acid sequences of mature hormone had a relatively high identity and more conserved. RT-PCR analysis revealed that olive flounder MCH precersor gene was expressed spectically only in the brain and not in other tissues.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.152-158
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• 2010

Melanin concentrating hormone is a neuropeptide highly expressed in the brain that regulates several physiological functions mediated by receptors in the G-protein coupled receptor family, especially plays an important role in the complex regulation of energy balance and body weight mediated by the melanin concentrating hormone receptor subtype 1 (MCH1). Compelling pharmacological evidence implicating MCH1 signaling in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure has generated a great deal of interest by pharmaceutical companies as MCH1 antagonists may have potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Although fluorescence-based calcium mobilization assay platform has been one of the most widely accepted tools for receptor research and drug discovery, fluorescence interference and shallow assay window limit their application in high throughput screening and have led to a growing interest in alternative, luminescence-based technologies. Herein, a luminescence-based functional assay system for the MCH1 receptor was developed and validated with the mitochondrial targeted aequorin. Aequorin based functional assay system for MCH1 presented excellent Z' factor (0.8983) and high signal-to-noise ratio (141.9). The nonpeptide MCH1 receptor antagonist, SNAP 7941 and GSK 803430, exhibited $IC_{50}$ values of 0.62 ${\pm}$ 0.11 and 12.29 ${\pm}$ 2.31 nM with excellent correlation coefficient. These results suggest that the aequorin based assay system for MCH1 is a strong alternative to the traditional GPCR related tools such as radioligand binding experiments and fluorescence functional determinations for the compound screening and receptor research.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.284-292
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• 2018

The melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), a cyclic hypothalamic peptide composed of 17 amino acids, was initially identified in chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) as a regulator of pigmentation. Mammalian MCHs are cyclic hypothalamic peptides composed of 19 amino acids that regulate food intake and energy homeostasis. The present study examined not only MCH expression of different tissues but also the melanohore aggregation and intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ influx of fMCH and the other MCH. Real-time qPCR showed that MCH expressed specially in the brain, gonad, and ovary, and expression of MCH was observed during the developmental stages. In the application of synthetic fMCH and both types of synthetic fMCH, dN-fMCH and dC-fMCH, scale melanophore induced significant changes in aggregation activity with various concentrations of MCH. Also, compared to hMCH and sMCH, fMCH exhibited a 36~99.85% increase in relative potency (%), whereas aggregation of dN-fMCH and dC-fMCH remained in a high concentration. However, dispersion was induced rapidly according to be low concentration of dN-fMCH and dC-fMCH. We show that fMCH and its derivates were bound human MCHR1 and rat MCHR expressed in HEK293T cells with nano-molar affinity and are likely to be ligand-induced to mobilize intracellular $Ca^{2+}$. These results may provide new ligands for binding assay with MCHew ligands, as a structure similar to the mammalian MCH structure was discovered in fish. Once the fMCH receptor system is in place, it can be compared to the MCH system of mammals in terms of MCH function.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.2389-2392
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• 2012

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1151-1155
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• 2007

In a previous study, a catalyst (A) was discovered for oxidative decarboxylation of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH). To explain the catalytic action and to predict the structure of a new catalyst with improved activity, docking simulations were carried out for the complex formed between A and MCH. The simulations suggested that the three terminal groups of A form a hydrophobic pocket and that van der Waals interactions between the hydrophobic pocket and MCH play a role in stabilizing the MCH-A complex. Consequently, a new catalyst (B) was designed and synthesized in expectation of improved catalytic activity resulting from enhanced van der Waals interactions. The new catalyst, however, showed slightly lower catalytic activity. Lack of the accurate solution structure of MCH may be one of the factors associated with difficulties in prediction of improvement in catalytic activity by purely theoretical means. The results, however, revealed that variation of the acyl portion of the hydroxyproline portion may lead to improved catalysts.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.2305-2310
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• 2013

A novel series of 2-heteroaryl substituted benzimidazole derivatives, containing the piperidinylphenyl acetamide group at the 1-position, were synthesized and evaluated as MCH-R1 antagonists. Extensive SAR investigation probing the effects of C-2 heteroaryl group led to the identification of 2-[2-(pyridin-3-yl)ethyl] analog 3o, which exhibits highly potent MCH-R1 binding activity with an $IC_{50}$ value of 1 nM. This substance 3o also has low hERG binding activity, good metabolic stability, and favorable pharmacokinetic properties.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2009

The present study was performed to investigate the binding affinity of the ethanol extract from the leaves of Morus alba (EMA) and some EMA related plant materials (EMA-D, EMA-DM) for melanin-concentrating hormone-1 receptor (MCH-1) and also to examine the antagonistic effect of them for the recombinant MCH-1 receptor expressed in CHO cells. EMA, dichloromethane fraction (EMA-D) and EMA-DM exhibited high affinity for mammalian MCH receptor in receptor binding assays ($IC_{50}$ value: 2.3, 1.6 and $1.0{\mu}g/ml$, respectively). Other plant materials (MMA-D, MMA-DM) obtained from methanol extracts from the leaves of Morus alba (MMA) also exhibited high affinity for mammalian MCH receptor, even though the $IC_{50}$ values of them were lower than those of EMA-D and EMA-DM. In Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing human MCH-1, EMA-DM and EMA-D significantly inhibited MCH-induced intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ increase ($IC_{50}$ values: 16.5 and $22.7{\mu}g/ml$, respectively). These results clearly indicate that the ethanol extract from the leaves of Morus alba (EMA) and some EMA related plant materials (EMA-D, EMA-DM) are novel selective MCH-1 receptor antagonist, respectively.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3851-3854
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• 2013

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.325-337
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• 2014

To assess the functional structure of prepro-melanin-concentrating hormone (pMCH), we isolated and cloned pMCH (of-pMCH) mRNA from the brain of the olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus, and compared its amino acid sequence with those from other animals. In addition, to examine whether activation of the brain of-pMCH gene is influenced by background color, density, and feeding, we compared pMCH mRNA activities against different background colors (bright and dark) and at different densities (100% PCA and 200% PCA). To examine whether the pMCH gene is related with malpigmentation of blind-side skin and appetite, we compared pMCH gene expression between ordinary and hypermelanic flounders, and between feeding and fasting flounders. The of-pMCH cDNA was 405 bp in the open reading frame [ORF] and encoded a protein of 135 amino acids; MCH was 51 bp in length and encoded a protein of 17 amino acids. An obvious single band of the expected size was obtained from the brain and pituitary by RT-PCR. In addition, of-pMCH gene activity was significantly higher in the bright background only at low density (< 100% PCA) making the ocular skin of fish whitening, and in ordinary fish. However, the gene activity was significantly decreased in dark background, at high density (>200% PCA), and in hypermelano fish. These results suggest that skin whitening camouflage of the flounder is induced by high MCH gene activity, and the density disturbs the function of background color in the physiological color change. Moreover, our data suggest that a low level of MCH gene activity may be related to malpigmentation of the blind-side skin. In feeding, although pMCH gene activity was significantly increased by feeding in the white background, the pMCH gene activity in the dark background was not influenced by feeding, indicating that the MCH gene activity increased by feeding can be offset by dark background color, or is unaffected by appetite. In conclusion, this study showed that MCH gene expression is related to ocular-skin whitening camouflage and blind-skin hypermelanosis, and is influenced by background color and density.