ACTH   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 3633

Synonyms: Acthar® | adrenocorticotropic hormone (1-39) | corticotropin
Approved drug Immunopharmacology Ligand
ACTH is an approved drug (FDA (1950))
Compound class: Endogenous peptide in human, mouse or rat
Comment: This is an enodgenous peptide secreted by the pituitary gland and is one of the peptide products of the POMC gene. It stimulates secretion of glucocorticoid steroid hormones. ACTH is used as a drug with the INN corticotropin. ACTH is an important component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and is often produced in response to biological stress.
Species: Human
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Ligand Activity Visualisation Charts

These are box plot that provide a unique visualisation, summarising all the activity data for a ligand taken from ChEMBL and GtoPdb across multiple targets and species. Click on a plot to see the median, interquartile range, low and high data points. A value of zero indicates that no data are available. A separate chart is created for each target, and where possible the algorithm tries to merge ChEMBL and GtoPdb targets by matching them on name and UniProt accession, for each available species. However, please note that inconsistency in naming of targets may lead to data for the same target being reported across multiple charts.

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View interactive charts of activity data across species

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View more information in the IUPHAR Pharmacology Education Project: acth

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2D Structure
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2D Structure

An image of the ligand's 2D structure. For small molecules with SMILES these are drawn using the NCI/CADD Chemical Identifier Resolver. Click on the image to access the chemical structure search tool with the ligand pre-loaded in the structure editor. For other types of ligands, e.g. longer nucleotides and peptides, a manually drawn representation of the molecule may be provided.

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SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
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SMILES / InChI / InChIKey

SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification) A specification for unambiguously describing the structure of chemical molecules using short ASCII strings. Canonical SMILES specify a unique representation of the 2D structure without chiral or isotopic specifications. Isomeric SMILES include chiral specification and isotopes.

Standard InChI (IUPAC International Chemical Identifier) and InChIKey InChI is a non-proprietary, standard, textual identifier for chemical substances designed to facilitate linking of information and database searching. An InChIKey is a simplified version of a full InChI, designed for easier web searching.

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Canonical SMILES NCCCCC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)N1CCCC1C(=O)NC(C(=O)NCC(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)N1CCCC1C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)O)Cc1ccccc1)CCC(=O)O)CC(C)C)Cc1ccccc1)C)CCC(=O)O)C)CO)CCC(=O)O)CC(=O)O)CCC(=O)O)C)CC(=O)N)Cc1ccc(cc1)O)C(C)C)NC(=O)C(C(C)C)NC(=O)C1CCCN1C(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)CNC(=O)C(C(C)C)NC(=O)C1CCCN1C(=O)C(NC(=O)CNC(=O)C(Cc1c[nH]c2c1cccc2)NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(CO)N)Cc1ccc(cc1)O)CO)CCSC)CCC(=O)O)Cc1nc[nH]c1)Cc1ccccc1)CCCN=C(N)N)CCCCN)CCCCN)CCCCN)CCCN=C(N)N)CCCN=C(N)N
Isomeric SMILES NCCCC[C@@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N1CCC[C@H]1C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)NCC(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N1CCC[C@H]1C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)O)Cc1ccccc1)CCC(=O)O)CC(C)C)Cc1ccccc1)C)CCC(=O)O)C)CO)CCC(=O)O)CC(=O)O)CCC(=O)O)C)CC(=O)N)Cc1ccc(cc1)O)C(C)C)NC(=O)[C@H](C(C)C)NC(=O)[C@@H]1CCCN1C(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)CNC(=O)[C@H](C(C)C)NC(=O)[C@@H]1CCCN1C(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)CNC(=O)[C@H](Cc1c[nH]c2c1cccc2)NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@H](CO)N)Cc1ccc(cc1)O)CO)CCSC)CCC(=O)O)Cc1nc[nH]c1)Cc1ccccc1)CCCN=C(N)N)CCCCN)CCCCN)CCCCN)CCCN=C(N)N)CCCN=C(N)N
InChI InChI=1S/C207H308N56O58S/c1-108(2)89-140(186(302)240-135(69-74-163(279)280)182(298)254-149(204(320)321)94-117-43-20-15-21-44-117)250-193(309)152-54-35-86-262(152)202(318)147(92-116-41-18-14-19-42-116)252-171(287)114(11)230-175(291)132(66-71-160(273)274)234-170(286)113(10)231-191(307)150(105-265)255-183(299)136(70-75-164(281)282)241-190(306)146(98-165(283)284)249-180(296)133(67-72-161(275)276)235-169(285)112(9)229-157(270)101-225-174(290)145(97-156(213)269)251-194(310)153-55-36-87-263(153)203(319)148(93-119-60-64-123(268)65-61-119)253-199(315)167(110(5)6)257-185(301)129(49-26-30-79-210)243-198(314)168(111(7)8)259-196(312)155-57-38-85-261(155)201(317)139(53-34-83-223-207(218)219)244-178(294)130(51-32-81-221-205(214)215)237-177(293)128(48-25-29-78-209)236-176(292)127(47-24-28-77-208)232-158(271)103-227-197(313)166(109(3)4)258-195(311)154-56-37-84-260(154)200(316)138(50-27-31-80-211)233-159(272)102-226-173(289)143(95-120-99-224-126-46-23-22-45-124(120)126)247-179(295)131(52-33-82-222-206(216)217)238-187(303)142(90-115-39-16-13-17-40-115)246-189(305)144(96-121-100-220-107-228-121)248-181(297)134(68-73-162(277)278)239-184(300)137(76-88-322-12)242-192(308)151(106-266)256-188(304)141(245-172(288)125(212)104-264)91-118-58-62-122(267)63-59-118/h13-23,39-46,58-65,99-100,107-114,125,127-155,166-168,224,264-268H,24-38,47-57,66-98,101-106,208-212H2,1-12H3,(H2,213,269)(H,220,228)(H,225,290)(H,226,289)(H,227,313)(H,229,270)(H,230,291)(H,231,307)(H,232,271)(H,233,272)(H,234,286)(H,235,285)(H,236,292)(H,237,293)(H,238,303)(H,239,300)(H,240,302)(H,241,306)(H,242,308)(H,243,314)(H,244,294)(H,245,288)(H,246,305)(H,247,295)(H,248,297)(H,249,296)(H,250,309)(H,251,310)(H,252,287)(H,253,315)(H,254,298)(H,255,299)(H,256,304)(H,257,301)(H,258,311)(H,259,312)(H,273,274)(H,275,276)(H,277,278)(H,279,280)(H,281,282)(H,283,284)(H,320,321)(H4,214,215,221)(H4,216,217,222)(H4,218,219,223)/t112-,113-,114-,125-,127-,128-,129-,130-,131-,132-,133-,134-,135-,136-,137-,138-,139-,140-,141-,142-,143-,144-,145-,146-,147-,148-,149-,150-,151-,152-,153-,154-,155-,166-,167-,168-/m0/s1
InChI Key IDLFZVILOHSSID-OVLDLUHVSA-N
Bioactivity Comments
Although we have recorded affinity data for ACTH at melanocortin receptors 1, 3, 4 and 5, affinity data for the human melanocortin receptor 2, the peptide's primary target, is lacking. As a peptide mimetic of ACTH we would expect corticotropin to have similar affinities to the endogenous peptide.
Natural/Endogenous Targets
Target
MC1 receptor
MC2 receptor
MC3 receptor
MC4 receptor
MC5 receptor
Selectivity at GPCRs
Key to terms and symbols Click column headers to sort
Target Sp. Type Action Value Parameter Concentration range (M) Reference
MC1 receptor Hs Agonist Agonist 8.6 pKi - 1
⤷ pKi 8.6 (Ki 2.5x10-9 M) [1]
MC3 receptor Hs Agonist Agonist 7.1 pKi - 1
⤷ pKi 7.1 (Ki 8.69x10-8 M) [1]
MC4 receptor Hs Agonist Agonist 6.2 pKi - 2
⤷ pKi 6.2 (Ki 6.93x10-7 M) [2]
MC5 receptor Hs Agonist Agonist <5.0 pKi - 1
⤷ pKi <5.0 (Ki >1x10-5 M) [1]
Additional information and targets (data relate to human unless otherwise stated)
Description Data Reference
Potency order of endogenous agonists at MC1 receptor α-MSH (POMC, P01189) > β-MSH (POMC, P01189) > ACTH (POMC, P01189), γ-MSH (POMC, P01189)
Potency order of endogenous agonists at MC3 receptor γ-MSH (POMC, P01189), β-MSH (POMC, P01189) > ACTH (POMC, P01189), α-MSH (POMC, P01189)
Potency order of endogenous agonists at MC4 receptor β-MSH (POMC, P01189) > α-MSH (POMC, P01189), ACTH (POMC, P01189) > γ-MSH (POMC, P01189)
Potency order of endogenous agonists at MC5 receptor α-MSH (POMC, P01189) > β-MSH (POMC, P01189) > ACTH (POMC, P01189) > γ-MSH (POMC, P01189)
Potency order of endogenous agonists at MC2 receptor ACTH (POMC, P01189)
Ligand mentioned in the following text fields
Melanocortin receptors overview