Obestatin

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 research.