The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 21, 2006
Filed:
May. 30, 1997
Gary M. Fox, Newbury Park, CA (US);
Shuqian Jing, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Duanzhi Wen, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Gary M. Fox, Newbury Park, CA (US);
Shuqian Jing, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Duanzhi Wen, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a potent neurotrophin that exhibits a broad spectrum of biological activities on a variety of cell types from both the central and peripheral nervous systems. The present invention involves the cloning and characterization of receptors for GDNF. Nucleic acid and amino acid sequences are described for GDNFR protein products. A hydrophobic domain with the features of a signal peptide is found at the amino terminus, while a second hydrophobic domain at the carboxy terminus is involved in the linkage of the receptor to the cell membrane. The lack of a transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic region indicates that GDNFR requires one or more accessory molecules in order to mediate transmembrane signaling. GDNFR mRNA is widely distributed in both nervous system and non-neural tissues, consistent with the similar distribution found for GDNF.