“…GSK161443, a small molecule ghrelin antagonist of calcium mobilization and inositol phosphate turnover (58), acts in vivo as an antagonist of GH release, an inducer of food intake, and a promoter of increased body weight (59,60), but the mechanistic and physiological basis for this has not been determined. Other described small molecule non-peptide agonists (34,61) and antagonists (36,62,63) of GHSR1a have been developed to treat GH deficiency, cachexia, and obesity, and, in a few cases, GH release was discriminated from food intake (59,62,63). ERK1/2 is required for the proliferative effect of ghrelin in intestinal epithelial and pancreatic endothelial cells (64 -66), and G protein activation and -arrestin scaffolding are both associated with enhanced cell growth (1,64).…”