Suntory Limited

Daiichi Suntory Pharma Co., Ltd.

Koji Magota

Yuji Suzuki

Shoji Tanaka

Masayuki Yabuta

Takehiro Oshima

Toyofumi Masuda

Nobuo Kato

Kazuhiro Ohsuye

Yasuyoshi Sakai

Seiko Onai

Tomohiro Osanai

Tomohiro Rogi

Methods of measuring the presence/absence of a coupling factor 6, which is a subunit of H-transporting ATP synthase&#x2192;HATP synthase present in the mitochondrial inner membrane, in the blood and the concentration thereof are provided. Further, relations among the coupling factor 6 level in the blood and diseases and relations among the inhibition of the effect of the coupling factor and therapeutic effects on diseases are clarified and thus techniques for diagnosing and treating these diseases are provided. The present invention provides a vector containing a DNA encoding the coupling factor 6 or fragment thereof; a transformant transformed by this vector; and a method of producing the coupling factor 6 and its fragment. The present invention further provides an antibody reacting specifically with the coupling factor 6; a process of producing the antibody; and a method of assaying the coupling factor 6.

Coupling factor 6 inhibitor and potentiator and use thereof

The present invention discloses a method for culturing microorganisms having a methanol metabolic pathway in which an expression unit is introduced that comprises a target gene linked downstream from a promoter that can be induced by methanol; wherein, during the culturing period, and including the period during which methanol is continuously or periodically added, the rate of addition is adjusted to a rate equal to or less than the maximum methanol consumption rate of said microorganisms.

Method for culturing microorganisms having a methanol metabolic pathway

A chimeric protein is provided which comprises a target protein and has been designed so as to be easily cleaved by a processing enzyme, permitting a target protein to be efficiently recovered. The chimeric protein is represented by the following formula:

Method for cleaving chimeric protein using processing enzyme

Kex2 protease derivatives obtained by transforming methanol-assimilating with expression vectors containing DNA coding for any amino acid sequence which is an amino acid sequence of Kex2 protease wherein the N-terminus is the Met at position 1 and the C-terminus is one of the amino acids between positions 618 (inclusive) and 698 (inclusive), or a modification of that amino acid sequence, culturing the resulting transformants and recovering the derivatives from the cultures, as well as gene systems coding for the derivatives and a method for producing the Kex2 protease derivatives using the gene systems. Also, a method for excision of desired peptides using the Kex2 protease derivatives.

Process for production of secretory Kex2 derivatives

The present invention is a process to express a target peptide in a large amount and accumulate the target peptide in host cells in the form of inclusion bodies. The process comprises:

Process for producing peptides in E. coli

A process for the production of a physiologically active peptide (a target peptide) containing cysteine residue, comprising the steps of:

Growing community of inventors

Takatsuki, Japan

Koji Magota