Meiji Milk Products Company, Limited

Hajime Tsunoo

Kenji Mizumoto

Masao Takami

Akio Yamashita

Hiroshi Tsuboi

Katsumi Ajisaka

Yukio Fujiki

Hideki Miyajima

Kousuke Kino

Hiroshi Fujimoto

Anti-HIV agent

Disclosed herein is a novel glycoprotein derived from Ganoderma mycelia. The glycoprotein is free of human hemagglutination ability, and has immunosuppressive activities and a molecular weight of 16,000-18,000 as measured by SDS gel electrophoresis or 12,000-16,000 as measured by tricin-SDS gel electrophoresis. The glycoprotein is produced by culturing Ganoderma mycelia, extracting the resultant Ganoderma mycelia with an aqueous solvent, and then purifying the resultant extract. An immunosuppressive agent containing an effective amount of the glycoprotein is also disclosed.

Glycoprotein isolated from ganoderma having immunosuppressive activity

The invention relates to an anti-HIV agent comprising as an effective component a plasma protein of which the polarity of the amino group of the amino acid residue constituting the plasma protein is chemically modified into a negative moiety by a carboxylic acid, for example, by maleic anhydride or succinic anhydride. Plasma proteins modified with dicarboxylic anhydride, which are the effective components of the anti-HIV agent of this invention, inhibit the formation of large cells in mixed culturing of HIV infected cells and non-infected cells as well as the direct infection of helper T cells with HIV. They are very safe compounds and are expected to be applicable to the treatment of HIV infected patients

Method of inhibiting large cell formation

Growing community of inventors

Odawara, Japan

Hajime Tsunoo