Melanotan I: What It Is and What It Does

For research & educational purposes only. This article is a neutral, procedural reference for laboratory / in-vitro research handling — not medical advice or a usage recommendation. These materials are not for human or animal consumption.

On this page

What Melanotan I is
What it does — in plain terms
Reconstitution reference

What Melanotan I is

Melanotan I (also called afamelanotide) is a lab-made copy of a natural hormone (alpha-MSH) that controls skin pigment. It is supplied as an analytical-grade reference material for laboratory research.

What it does — in plain terms

Your skin contains cells that make melanin — the pigment that darkens skin and helps shield it from UV light. Melanotan I imitates the natural signal that switches those cells on. So researchers study it around pigmentation and photoprotection: how skin produces pigment, and whether more of it can help protect against sun damage.

Here's where Melanotan I actually shows up in the published research:

How skin produces melanin (pigment)
Photoprotection (shielding skin from UV)
Melanocortin-receptor signaling

Plain-language explanations describe what researchers study — not what any product does for a person, and not medical advice. Every material here is sold for laboratory research use only and is not for human or animal use.

Reconstitution reference

Standard laboratory reconstitution volumes for Melanotan I, from the VNG Reconstitution Sheet. See the full reconstitution guide for the method and concentration math.

Product	Vial	Bacteriostatic water	Resulting concentration
Melanotan I	10 mg	2 mL	5 mg/mL
Melanotan II	10 mg	2 mL	5 mg/mL

Published research

A selection of peer-reviewed and clinical literature indexed on PubMed. Provided so qualified researchers can locate the primary sources — inclusion here is not a claim about any product or outcome.

References & resources

Related reference materials

Melanotan I GHK-Cu GLOW Blend

VNG Research Team

VNG Labs supplies analytical-grade reference materials with lot-matched Certificates of Analysis. Our write-ups are neutral, source-cited references for qualified and independent researchers.