A branched flexible linker that incorporates a fluorescent dansyl moiety was synthesized and used toconnect two high affinity NDP-
-MSH ligands or two low affinity MSH(4) ligands. The linker wasincorporated into the conjugate by solid-phase synthesis. In vitro biological evaluations showed thatpotency of binding to the human melanocortin 4 receptor was not diminished for linker-ligandcombinations relative to the corresponding ligand alone.