Melanotan-2

What is Melanotan-2

Melanotan-2 (MT-2, MT-II) is a synthetic cyclic seven-residue peptide. It was designed in the 1980s and 1990s at the University of Arizona as a more stable analog of alpha-MSH, the natural ligand at melanocortin receptors. Three changes set it apart from the parent hormone: a norleucine in position 4, a D-phenylalanine in position 7, and a lactam ring closing the molecule between aspartate and lysine. Together these changes resist enzymatic breakdown and lock the peptide in a shape that binds melanocortin receptors with high affinity.

We supply Melanotan-2 in lyophilized (freeze-dried) form, the same format used in published research protocols.

How it works

The melanocortin receptor family has five members. MT-2 acts as a non-selective agonist at four of them: MC1R, MC3R, MC4R, and MC5R. It does not engage MC2R, the adrenal receptor.

At MC1R on melanocytes, receptor activation raises intracellular cAMP, which drives the transcription factor MITF and shifts pigment production toward eumelanin. This is the pathway most often studied in cell-culture and rodent models of melanogenesis. MC4R is the central appetite and behavior receptor and is widely studied in feeding, energy-balance, and arousal research. MC3R and MC5R add further branches involved in metabolism and exocrine biology.

Because MT-2 hits several melanocortin receptors at once, it is used in laboratories as a broad probe to map melanocortin signaling, rather than as a tool for any single pathway in isolation.

Often studied alongside

For reconstitution, the standard solvent in published protocols is bacteriostatic or sterile water. Lyophilized MT-2 dissolves into a clear solution and is typically aliquoted and refrigerated for short-term laboratory use.

In the wider melanocortin literature, MT-2 is frequently compared with afamelanotide (Melanotan-1), the linear MC1R-selective analog. Side-by-side experiments help researchers tell apart MC1R-driven effects from those involving MC3R, MC4R, or MC5R.

Documentation