Meiji Milk Products Company, Limited

Meiji Dairies Corporation

Toyo Ink Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Medical Therapies Limited

Takashi Muramatsu

Muramatsu, Takashi

Munehiro Oda

Sadatoshi Sakuma

Shinya Ikematsu

Masayuki Uchida

Hideshi Kumai

Makoto Kikuchi

Hiroyuki Itoh

Akio Yamashita

Masayuki Suzuki

Akira Kikuchi

Naoki Kato

Kenji Kadomatsu

Michio Kanbe

Yukiyoshi Jonoshita

Minehiko Yokoyama

Yoshihiro Yoshida

Tetsushi Sudo

Yasunori Suzuki

Yoshiko Takabatake

Kenji Nomiya

Naoyuki Ebisawa

Kyushichi Miyazawa

Fumiyasu Tsuchiya

Hidekazu Tonouchi

Kohji Okamoto

The invention provides a peptide having an activity of inhibiting angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), and a food and drink and/or a pharmaceutical composition containing the peptide.

Peptide inhibiting angiotensin converting enzyme

A pharmaceutical composition for treating or preventing cytopathy caused by ischemia, comprising a midkine family protein as an active ingredient, and a pharmaceutical composition for treating or preventing ischemic disorders, comprising a midkine family protein as an active ingredient, are provided. Midkine is efficacious in treating or preventing ischemic disorders and cytopathy caused by ischemia and can remarkably prevent, for example, the development of cerebral infarction, a representative of ischemic brain disorders. The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention is also efficacious against, for example, cerebral ischemic disorders such as cerebrovascular-spasm following a subarachnoid hemorrhage, Alzheimer's disease, senile dementia of Alzheimer's type, and cerebrovascular senile dementia, as well as cerebral ischemia, transient cerebral ischemic disease, and head trauma, and other cerebrovascular diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, and amyotrophic regressive disorders.

Pharmaceutical composition for preventing or treating ischemic diseases

MK (midkine) was found to rise in the blood or urine of patients with various types of cancers at early stage. Based on this finding, a method for detecting early cancer, comprising the step of measuring MK in blood or urine was completed.

Methods for detecting early cancer

The present invention provides novel use of the MK family that is used alone as an agent for proliferating hematopoietic stem cells and hematopoietic precursor cells. The invention also provides an agent for remarkably enhancing the above-described effect for promoting the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells and hematopoietic precursor cells, comprising the MK family in combination with known hematopoietic factors such as IL-3, IL-6, G-CSF, GM-CSF, M-CSF, SCF, and EPO.

Expansion of hematopoietic cells using midkine or pleiotrophin

The present invention provides a novel drug for relieving drug-induced nephropathy and acute hepatopahy containing a midkine (MK) family protein such as pleiotrophin (PTN). The MK family proteins can inhibit nephropathy induced by an antitumor agent or acute hepatopathy caused by carbon tetrachloride and thus effectively relieve drug-induced nephropathy or hepatopathy.

Method for suppressing or treating drug-induced nephropathy

Composition comprising midkine or pleiotrophin protein and method of increasing hematopoietic cells

An anti-ulcer composition is provided, which comprises as an active ingredient at least one of MK protein, its derivative having biological activity of MK protein, and their fragment having biological activity of MK protein, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The composition exhibits an effect for treating ulcer by promoting autotherapy without recurrence of ulcer.

Treatment of peptic ulcers using midkine (MK) proteins

Antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral agent

New high molecular polysaccharide MPS-80 was obtained by culturing high molecular polysaccharide MPS-80-producing bacteria belonging to genera Lactobacillus or Streptococcus. The new high molecular polysaccharide MPS-80 has an excellent anti-tumor effect, and it is expected for the utilization as anti-tumor agent.

High molecular polysaccharide MPS-80

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Munehiro Oda