GENE SENSITIVE TO BONE/JOINT DISEASE AND USE THEREOF

摘要

Disclosed is an agent for preventing the expression of an inflammatory cytokine in a joint and/or the destruction of a joint (e.g., the destruction of an articular cartilage) and/or a pain in a bone/joint disease, which comprises a substance capable of inhibiting the expression or activity of a protein comprising the same or substantially the same amino acid sequence as the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO:2. Also disclosed is a method for the screening of a substance capable of controlling the expression of an inflammatory cytokine in a joint and/or the destruction of a joint (e.g., the destruction of an articular cartilage) and/or a pain in a bone/joint disease, which is characterized by using the protein or a partial peptide thereof. Further disclosed is a method for the diagnosis of a genetic sensitivity to a bone/joint disease, which comprises detecting a polymorphism in a nucleotide represented by Nucleotide No. 24007 in a partial nucleotide sequence of human EDG2 gene depicted in SEQ ID No:3.