ANTIBODY HAVING OSTEOBLAST DIFFERENTIATION PROMOTING ACTIVITY

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an antibody having an osteoblast differentiation promoting activity, and usable for treatment or prophylaxis of bone metabolic diseases.SOLUTION: There is provided an anti-RANKL antibody linking to RANKL, and having an osteoblast differentiation promoting activity. The anti-RANKL antibody or a functional fragment thereof recognizes any of following epitopes: (i) an epitope present in the region of 80-110 amino acid residues of the RANKL; (ii) an epitope present in the region of 130-160 amino acid residues of the RANKL; (iii) an epitope present in the region of 170-200 amino acid residues of the RANKL; (iv) an epitope present in the region of 240-270 amino acid residues of the RANKL; and (v) an epitope present in the region of 290-310 amino acid residues of the RANKL.