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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2014 Jul 28;38(9):2323–2330. doi: 10.1111/acer.12497

Fig. 1. POMC peptide processing in the hypothalamus.

Fig. 1

Pomc gene (ENSRN000000012686) in rats is located on chromosone 6 (www.ensembl.org). It is transcribed into a mRNA (ENSRN000000016976), translated into a peptide that is proteolytically cleaved in a tissue specific manner into biologically-active peptides. This gene gives rise to two classes of peptides; the melanocortins and the endorphins. In the hypothalamus, POMC peptide processing yields primarily α-MSH, a negligeable amount of ACTH and β-EP (NT= N-terminal peptide, JP=Junctional peptide, ACTH= Adrenal corticotrophin thyroid hormone, β-LPH= Beta- lipotrophin hormone, α-MSH= Alpha melanocyte-stimulating hormone, CLIP= Corticotropin-like intermediate peptide, β-EP=Beta- endorphin). A representative figure of β-EP-producing POMC neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus is represented.