Objective Melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) plays an important role in the regulation of food intake and body weight, and is asso ciated with human obesity. Since MC4R gene was cloned, there has been a large am ount of research on structure, physiological function, regulatory mechanism of i ts effects and the association between MC4R gene mutation and body weight. The r ecent progress in those aspects is discussed in this review.