Research on attractin has flourished in recent years as implementation of modern genetic techniques has identified several animal mutants with complex phenotypes resulting from mutations at the Atrn locus. Models of hair pigmentation (mahogany mice) and of tremor and neurodegeneration (zitter and myelin vacuolation rats, black tremor hamsters) all result from attractin locus mutations. Functional analysis in human cells reveals an important role for attractin in immune cell and neural cell function, and further demonstrates primate-specific splice variants that may play a unique role.

This site serves to collate all published information on attractin and present the assembled material in a meaningful form that will provide a solid basis for further investigation. To further this aim, the site will be frequently updated and links to important new research directions presented in the "News" frame below.

Figure: Cells constitutively expressing Mc1R (red) and inducible membrane attractin (green), or both (yellow) are being used to study attractin's role in melanocortin receptor signaling