Novel protein and process for producing the same

摘要

A protein having an osteoblast proliferating activity, originating in human fibroblasts, and having the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID No: 1 in the Sequence Listing as the N-terminal amino acid sequence thereof and a molecular weight of about 15kD as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under both reducing and non-reducing conditions; a protein having an osteoblast proliferating activity and the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID No: 9 in the Sequence Listing; and a process for producing the proteins by culturing human fibroblasts and purifying the culture medium by adsorption on a cation exchanger and heparin. The proteins can be produced also by genetic engineering techniques. They are used for treating bone weight reducing diseases such as osteoporosis and as an antigen for the immunological diagnosis of these diseases.