NOVEL PHYSIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCE EPIMORPHINE, GENE WHICH CODES FOR SAME, AND ANTIBODY AGAINST EPIMORPHINE.

摘要

A novel physiologically active substance, epimorphine, which can be expressed by a gene hybridizing with a gene probe having a base sequence complemetary to the base sequence represented by the following sequence: ATG CGG GAC CGG CTG CCA GAC CTG ACG GCG TGT AGG which has an activity of epithelial tissue morphogenesis and is produced by human or mouse mesenchymal cells, and an isoform of the epimorphine; a base sequence of a gene which codes for them; a modified epimorphine prepared by replacing a hydrophobic part of the carboxyl terminus of the polypeptide of epimorphine by a defective or non-hydrophobic polypeptide; and a polyclonal or monoclonal antibody prepared by using the whole or part of epimorphine as an antigen. This substance can be used for the clarification of the mechanism of occurrence of diseases caused by the morphological anomaly of epithelia, the diagnosis of these diseases, a development of a therapy therefor, etc.