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| |Locus:||3 p26 -p25| Obestatin is a putative hormone that is
potentially produced in the cells lining the stomach and small
intestine of several mammals including humans. Research carried
out at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2005
identified the new hormone with a bioinformatics approach by
computer search of the sequenced genomes of several organisms.
Obestatin is a putative peptide hormone - a relatively small
protein. It is encoded by the same gene that also encodes
ghrelin, a peptide hormone that increases appetite. The protein
produced by that gene breaks into two smaller peptides, ghrelin
and obestatin. The purpose of this mechanism remains unclear,
however it explains earlier findings, namely that removing the
ghrelin gene from mice did not significantly reduce their
appetite. Rights to commercial use of the hormone lie with
Johnson & Johnson which sponsored the r