{"entity":{"id":"ghsr","kind":"target","name":"GHSR","aka":["growth hormone secretagogue receptor","Growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1","GHS-R1a","GHS-R","GHSR-1a"],"tldr":"GHSR (Growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1) is a gene. The public catalogues list it as a drug target, and an approved or late-stage drug is recorded against it.","summary":"G protein-coupled receptor specific to ghrelin, an appetite-regulating peptide hormone commonly found in stomach. Upon activation, stimulates appetite and promotes growth hormone secretion. Ghrelin binding causes a conformation change that triggers signalling via guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) and modulates the activity of downstream effectors, such as phospholipase C.\n\nOpen Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.60 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.87, genetic association 0.16, clinical 0.92).","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:4267","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:4267"},{"label":"UniProt Q92847","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q92847/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 2693","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/2693"},{"label":"Ensembl ENSG00000121853","url":"https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000121853"}],"tags":["cancer-genes-wave"],"related":["open-targets"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: Open Targets known-drug datatype score 0.92. Evidence tier \"approved-drug\" is the strongest of those signals.","Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts (CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC, UniProt)","editedOn":"2026-09-23"},"symbol":"GHSR","role":["drug-target"],"evidenceTier":"approved-drug","sources":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:4267","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:4267","note":"approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)"},{"label":"UniProt Q92847","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q92847/entry","note":"protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000121853","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000121853/associations","note":"association with cancer (MONDO_0004992) 0.60;  (GraphQL API, CC0)"}],"distribution":"not-established","specificityNote":"Specificity not established: no corpus medicine is aimed at it and the catalogues give it only the role drug-target; HPA finds the RNA tissue enriched, which says where the protein sits but not whether the tumour differs from normal tissue. HPA GHSR: RNA tissue enriched (pituitary gland 4 nTPM); no normal tissue stained high. Distribution: no corpus cancer carries a prevalence row, threshold or catalogue link for it; Open Targets associates it with 0 specific cancer types at or above 0.5. (No rule of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts fired.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"Human Protein Atlas GHSR tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000121853-GHSR/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000121853 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000121853/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:4267","ensembl":"ENSG00000121853","uniprot":"Q92847","entrez":"2693","firstDescribed":1996,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Howard A.D. et al, Science, 1996, \"A receptor in pituitary and hypothalamus that functions in growth hormone release\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8688086/","biology":"G protein-coupled receptor specific to ghrelin, an appetite-regulating peptide hormone commonly found in stomach. Upon activation, stimulates appetite and promotes growth hormone secretion. Ghrelin binding causes a conformation change that triggers signalling via guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) and modulates the activity of downstream effectors, such as phospholipase C. GHSR is coupled to G(q) G proteins and mediates production of diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3). Also binds other growth hormone releasing peptides (GHRP) (e.g. Met-enkephalin and GHRP-6) as well as non-peptide, low molecular weight secretagogues (e.g. Location: Cell membrane (UniProt). Locus 3q26.31 (HGNC).","whereFound":[],"targetClass":"other","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/ghsr/","neighbours":{"collection":[{"id":"open-targets","kind":"collection","name":"Open Targets Platform","route":"/collections/open-targets/"}]}}