title: Ghrelin: a multifunctional hormone in non-mammalian vertebrates.
abstract: In mammals, ghrelin is a non-amidated peptide hormone, existing in both acylated and non-acylated forms, produced mainly from the X/A or ghrelin cells present in the mucosal layer of the stomach. Ghrelin is a natural ligand of the growth hormone (GH) secretagogue-receptor (GHS-R), and functions primarily as a GH-releasing hormone and an orexigen, as well as having several other biological actions. Among non-mammalian vertebrates, amino acid sequence of ghrelin has been reported in two species of cartilaginous fish, seven species of teleosts, two species of amphibians, one species of reptile and six species of birds. The structure and functions of ghrelin are highly conserved among vertebrates. This review presents a concise overview of ghrelin biology in non-mammalian vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Osaka, Japan. kaiya@ri.ncvc.go.jp
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaiya
authors.forename: Mikiya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazato
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kangawa
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Peter
authors.forename: Suraj
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Unniappan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D054440:Receptors, Ghrelin / Q000378:metabolism; D014714:Vertebrates
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D054440:Receptors, Ghrelin; D013007:Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone