The kinetics and the thermodynamics of melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) adsorption, penetration, and mixing with membrane components are reported. MCH behaved as a surface active peptide, forming stable monolayers at a lipid-free air-water interface, with an equilibrium spreading pressure, a collapse pressure, and a minimal molecular area of 11 mN/m, 13 mN/m, and 140 angstrom(2), respectively. Additional peptide interfacial stabilization was achieved in the presence of lipids, as evidenced by the expansion observed at pi > pi(sp) in monolayers containing premixtures of MCH with zwitterionic or charged lipids. The MCH-monolayer association and dissociation rate constants were 9.52 x 10(-4), mu M-1 min(-1) and 8.83 x 10(-4) min(-1), respectively. The binding of MCH to the dpPC-water interface had a K-d = 930 nM at 10 mN/m. MCH penetration in lipid monolayers occurred even up to pi(cutoff) = 29-32 mN/m. The interaction stability, binding orientation, and miscibility of MCH in monolayers depended on the lipid type, the MCH molar fraction in the mixture, and the molecular packing of the monolayer. This predicted its heterogeneous distribution between different self-separated membrane domains. Our results demonstrated the ability of MCH to incorporate itself into biomembranes and supports the possibility that MCH affects the activity of mechanosensitive membrane proteins through mechanisms unrelated with binding to specific receptors.