Chemistry: natural resins or derivatives; peptides or proteins; – Proteins – i.e. – more than 100 amino acid residues – Hormones – e.g. – prolactin – thymosin – growth factors – etc.
Patent
1995-08-28
1998-09-15
Kemmerer, Elizabeth C.
Chemistry: natural resins or derivatives; peptides or proteins;
Proteins, i.e., more than 100 amino acid residues
Hormones, e.g., prolactin, thymosin, growth factors, etc.
530350, 530397, 435 691, 435 694, 4352523, 4353201, 435325, 536 235, 536 2351, 536 243, 536 2431, C07K 14475, C12N 121, C12N 510, C12N 1516
Patent
active
058080074
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to growth factors and specifically to a new member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-.beta.) superfamily, which is denoted, growth differentiation factor-3 (GDF-3).
2. Description of Related Art
The transforming growth factor .beta. (TGF-.beta.) superfamily encompasses a group of structurally-related proteins which affect a wide range of differentiation processes during embryonic development. The family includes, Mullerian inhibiting substance (MIS), which is required for normal male sex development (Behringer, et al., Nature, 345:167, 1990), Drosophila decapentaplegic (DPP) gene product, which is required for dorsal-ventral axis formation and morphogenesis of the imaginal disks (Padgett, et al., Nature, 325:81-84, 1987), the Xenopus Vg-1 gene product, which localizes to the vegetal pole of eggs ((Weeks, et al., Cell, 51:861-867, 1987), the activins (Mason, et al., Biochem, Biophys. Res. Commun., 135:957-964, 1986), which can induce the formation of mesoderm and anterior structures in Xenopus embryos (Thomsen, et al., Cell, 63:485, 1990), and the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs, osteogenin, OP-1) which can induce de novo cartilage and bone formation (Sampath, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 265:13198, 1990). The TGF-.beta.s can influence a variety of differentiation processes, including adipogenesis, myogenesis, chondrogenesis, hematopoiesis, and epithelial cell differentiation (for review, see Massague, Cell 49:437, 1987).
The proteins of the TGF-.beta. family are initially synthesized as a large precursor protein which subsequently undergoes proteolytic cleavage at a cluster of basic residues approximately 110-140 amino acids from the C-terminus. The C-terminal regions of the proteins are all structurally related and the different family members can be classified into distinct subgroups based on the extent of their homology. Although the homologies within particular subgroups range from 70% to 90% amino acid sequence identity, the homologies between subgroups are significantly lower, generally ranging from only 20% to 50%. In each case, the active species appears to be a disulfide-linked dimer of C-terminal fragments. For most of the family members that have been studied, the homodimeric species has been found to be biologically active, but for other family members, like the inhibins (Ling, et al., Nature, 321:779, 1986) and the TGF-.beta.s (Cheifetz, et al., Cell, 48:409, 1987), heterodimers have also been detected, and these appear to have different biological properties than the respective homodimers.
Identification of new factors that are tissue-specific in their expression pattern will provide a greater understanding of that tissue's development and function.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a cell growth and differentiation factor, GDF-3, a polynucleotide sequence which encodes the factor, and antibodies which are immunoreactive with the factor. This factor appears to relate to various cell proliferative disorders, especially those involving those involving hematopoietic and adipose tissue, as well as disorders related to the function of the immune system.
Thus, in one embodiment, the invention provides a method for detecting a cell proliferative or immunologic disorder of bone marrow, spleen, thymus or fat origin and which is associated with GDF-3. In another embodiment, the invention provides a method of treating a cell proliferative or immunologic disorder associated with abnormal levels of expression of GDF-3, by suppressing or enhancing GDF-3 activity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows expression of GDF-3 mRNA in adult tissues.
FIG. 2a and 2b show nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequence of GDF-3. Consensus N-glycosylation signals are denoted by plain boxes. The putative tetrabasic processing sites are denoted by stippled boxes. The in-frame termination codons upstream of the putative initiating ATG and the consensus polyadenylation signals are underlined. Th
REFERENCES:
Bowie et al. Science 247:1306-10, 1990.
Rudinger. Peptide Hormones, Parsons, ed., University Park Press, Baltimore, pp. 1-7, 1976.
Wells. Biochemistry 29:8509-17, 1990.
Ngo et al. The Protein Folding Problem and Tertiary Structure Prediction, Merz et al., eds., Birkhauser, Boston, pp. 491-495, 1994.
Massague. Cell 49:437-8, 1987.
Callard et al. The Cytokine FactsBook, Academic Press, London, pp. 31-32, 1994.
Molecular Endocrinology vol. 6, No. 11 pp. 1961-1968 Nov. 1992. Jones et al.
Science vol. 242 pp. 1528-1532, 16 Dec. 1988. Wozney et al.
PNAS vol. 87 pp. 2220-2224. Mar. 1990. Wang et al.
Development vol. 111 pp. 531-542. 1991. Jones et al.
Lee Se-Jin
McPherron Alexandra C.
Kemmerer Elizabeth C.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
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