{"entity":{"id":"mc1r","kind":"target","name":"MC1R","aka":["melanocortin 1 receptor","Melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor","MSH-R"],"tldr":"MC1R (Melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor) is a gene. In the public catalogues the evidence so far is association rather than a proven role. Tied to Skin cancer, Melanoma and Basal cell carcinoma.","summary":"G protein-coupled receptor that binds melanocyte-stimulating hormones (alpha, beta, and gamma-MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone/ACTH, which are peptide products of the POMC precursor protein. Upon activation, MC1R couples with the G(s) protein, stimulating adenylate cyclase and activating the cAMP-dependent signalling pathway. This activation promotes melanogenesis, resulting in the production of eumelanin (black/brown) and pheomelanin (red/yellow) in melanocytes.\n\nOpen Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.60 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.95, animal model 0.48, genetic association 0.71).","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:6929","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:6929"},{"label":"UniProt Q01726","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q01726/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 4157","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/4157"},{"label":"Ensembl ENSG00000258839","url":"https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000258839"}],"tags":["cancer-genes-wave"],"related":["open-targets"],"cancers":["skin-cancer","melanoma","basal-cell-carcinoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["nct05655312"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: none stated by the sources. Evidence tier \"association-only\" is the strongest of those signals.","Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts (CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC, UniProt)","editedOn":"2026-09-23"},"symbol":"MC1R","role":[],"evidenceTier":"association-only","sources":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:6929","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:6929","note":"approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)"},{"label":"UniProt Q01726","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q01726/entry","note":"protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000258839","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000258839/associations","note":"association with cancer (MONDO_0004992) 0.60; per-cancer scores at or above 0.5: melanoma 0.62, skin cancer 0.58, basal cell carcinoma 0.53 (GraphQL API, CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:6929","ensembl":"ENSG00000258839","uniprot":"Q01726","entrez":"4157","biology":"G protein-coupled receptor that binds melanocyte-stimulating hormones (alpha, beta, and gamma-MSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone/ACTH, which are peptide products of the POMC precursor protein. Upon activation, MC1R couples with the G(s) protein, stimulating adenylate cyclase and activating the cAMP-dependent signalling pathway. This activation promotes melanogenesis, resulting in the production of eumelanin (black/brown) and pheomelanin (red/yellow) in melanocytes. MC1R interacts with G protein-coupled receptor opsin 3/OPN3, which couples to G(i) proteins and inhibits the alpha-MSH-induced cAMP response, thereby reducing melanin synthesis. Binding to Agouti/ASP precludes alpha-MSH-induced signalling, thereby down-regulating melanogenesis. Additionally, interaction with MGRN1 displaces the G(s) protein, further suppressing MC1R signalling. Location: Cell membrane (UniProt). Locus 16q24.3 (HGNC).","whereFound":["Skin cancer: Open Targets association 0.58 with skin cancer (MONDO_0002898)","Melanoma: Open Targets association 0.62 with melanoma (MONDO_0005105)","Basal cell carcinoma: Open Targets association 0.53 with basal cell carcinoma (MONDO_0020804)"],"targetClass":"other","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/mc1r/","neighbours":{"collection":[{"id":"open-targets","kind":"collection","name":"Open Targets Platform","route":"/collections/open-targets/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"basal-cell-carcinoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Basal cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/basal-cell-carcinoma/"},{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"},{"id":"skin-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Skin cancer (all types)","route":"/cancers/skin-cancer/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct05655312","kind":"trial","name":"MC1R-targeted Alpha-particle Monotherapy and Combination Therapy Trial With Nivolumab in Adults With Advanced Melanoma","route":"/trials/nct05655312/"}]}}