Figure 1.

Gene splicing of ghrelin and splice variants. Diagram summarizing the different splicing pathways leading to the generation of the various mRNA transcripts formed from GHRL transcription. Splicing of exons 1–4 yields products of native ghrelin (acylated or unacylated) and obestatin. The inclusion of intron 1 coupled with the exclusion of exons 3–4 leads to the production of the In1-ghrelin variant. Exclusion of exon 3 alone yields the exon-3 deleted preproghrelin transcript, which is further processed to produce native ghrelin.