Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), encoded by the polycistronic POMC gene (or POMC) on chromosome 2p23.3, is a polypeptide precursor protein with 241 amino acid residues. As many as 10 functionally different peptides can be derived from POMC via extensive tissue-specific post-translational processing. These peptides include adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), β- and γ-lipotropin (β- and γ-LPH), α-, β-, and γ-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-, β-, and γ-MSH), corticotropin-like intermediate lobe peptide (CLIP), and β-endorphin (Figure 1). These peptides play crucial roles in numerous biological processes such as pain (1), energy homeostasis (2), melanocyte stimulation (3), and immune modulation (4).
