152 citations
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January 2004 in “Current anthropology” Humans lost body hair relatively recently in evolution.
24 citations
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January 2023 in “Cancer Research” This study suggests that activating AMPK to phosphorylate ZDHHC13 may enhance MC1R function and reduce melanoma risk in individuals with red hair.
January 2026 in “Aging and Disease” This study found that, despite confirming MC1R expression and functional cAMP signalling, α-MSH treatment did not alleviate UVA-induced stress in adult dermal fibroblasts, suggesting that α-MSH-MC1R may not directly protect against UVA-induced photoaging in these cells.
June 2025 in “Albus Scientia” This review discusses the role of the MC1R gene in human pigmentation and its genetic variants, reporting no new results; the authors highlight its forensic applications for phenotypic prediction.
January 2024 in “Australasian journal of dermatology (Print)” In this case study, researchers documented a Chinese boy with hair color changing to red and identified MC1R genetic mutations as the cause, rather than zinc deficiency, enhancing our understanding of hair heterochromia due to genetic factors.