Released on = December 6, 2006, 9:54 am

Press Release Author = Albert Hong

Industry = Biotech

Press Release Summary = In 1999, Kojima and his group (1) reported the discovery of
a growth hormone secretagogue that is involved in the release of growth hormone from
the anterior pituitary through activation of the growth hormone secretagogue
receptor (GHS-R).

Press Release Body = They termed it Ghrelin (ghre from a Proto-Indo-European root
meaning to grow). Ghrelin, a 28-amino-acid peptide hormone produced by the stomach
in mammals, is a peptide with an n-octanoyl modification at Ser3 (n-octanoylation is
essential for its activity). It stimulates appetite and food intake and decreases
fat utilization. The secretion of ghrelin is augmented under conditions of both
gastric emptying and filling, and its release stimulated by intestinal hormones
(1-5).

In 2005, Hsueh's group (6) found a peptide fragment from the same ghrelin gene that
has opposite effects from those of Ghrelin. This they named Obestatin (obedere from
Latin, meaning to devour, and statin denoting suppression). Obestatin binds to the
orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR39 and suppresses food intake, inhibits jejunal
contraction and decreases body weight gain (6).

AnaSpec, a leading provider of integrated proteomics solutions, offers a wide range
of ghrelin and obestatin peptides for research use.

Ghrelins
· Bovine
· Human
· Rat

[Des-Octanoyl]-Ghrelin
· Human
· Rat

Labeled Human Ghrelins - may be used for ligand-receptor intereaction studies5
· Biotin-Labeled
· FAM-Labeled
· TAMRA-Labeled

Obestatins
· Human
· Rat

For more information visit www.anaspec.com

References:
1. Kojima, M. et al. Nature 402, 656 (1999).
2. Kleinz, MJ. et al. Cardiovasc Res. 69, 227 (2006).
3. Murakami, N. et al. J. Endocrinol. 174, 283 (2002).
4. Nishi, Y. et al. Endocrinol. 146, 2709 (2005).
5. Cowley, MA. et al. Neuron 37, 649 (2003).
6. Zhang, JV. et al. Science 310, 996 (2005).




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