This gene encodes a protein that modulates melanocortin receptor signaling. The encoded protein has been shown to interact with all known melanocortin receptors and may regulate both receptor trafficking and activation in response to ligands. Mice lacking a functional copy of this gene exhibit severe obesity and a mutation in this gene may be associated with severe obesity in human patients. [provided by RefSeq, Oct 2016]
Forensic Context
A study in humans demonstrated that postmortem midbrain analysis of chronic cocaine abusers identified the MRAP2 as a diagnostic transcript and protein robustly expressed in dopamine neurons, showing a 1.5-fold downregulation in abusers [Bannon et al. DOI:10.1038/Npp.2014.70].