ASIP, Official Symbol ASIPprovided by HGNC Official Full Name agouti signaling proteinprovided by HGNC Primary source HGNC:HGNC:745 See related Ensembl:ENSG00000101440 MIM:600201; AllianceGenome:HGNC:745 Gene type protein coding RefSeq status REVIEWED Organism Homo sapiens Lineage Eukaryota; Metazoa; Chordata; Craniata; Vertebrata; Euteleostomi; Mammalia; Eutheria; Euarchontoglires; Primates; Haplorrhini; Catarrhini; Hominidae; Homo Also known as ASP; AGSW; AGTI; AGTIL; SHEP9 Summary In mice, the agouti gene encodes a paracrine signaling molecule that causes hair follicle melanocytes to synthesize pheomelanin, a yellow pigment, instead of the black or brown pigment, eumelanin. Pleiotropic effects of constitutive expression of the mouse gene include adult-onset obesity, increased tumor susceptibility, and premature infertility. This gene is highly similar to the mouse gene and encodes a secreted protein that may (1) affect the quality of hair pigmentation, (2) act as a pharmacological antagonist of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, (3) play a role in neuroendocrine aspects of melanocortin action, and (4) have a functional role in regulating lipid metabolism in adipocytes. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008] Expression Low expression observed in reference dataset See more Orthologs mouse all