Osteogenic proteins

Claim 2

Substantially pure mammalian osteogenic protein comprising a pair of unglycosylated polypeptide chains and capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in association with a matrix when implanted in a mammal said osteogenic protein comprising at least one of the following amino acid sequences: a) Ala-Cys-Cys-Val-Pro-Thr-Glu-Leu-Ser-Ala-Ile Ser-Met-Leu-Tyr-Leu-Asp-Glu-Asn-Glu-Lys, b) Val-Pro-Lys-Pro, and c) Ala-Pro-Thr.

Claim 3

The osteogenic protein of claim 1 having an apparent molecular weight of about 27 kDa as determined by comparison to molecular weight standards in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Claim 4

The osteogenic protein of claim 2 wherein one of said pair of unglycosylated polypeptide chains has an apparent molecular weight of about 14 kDa, and the other has an apparent molecular weight of about 16 kDa, both as determined after reduction by comparison to molecular weight standards in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Claim 5

The osteogenic protein of claim 1 characterized by the approximate amino acid composition set forth below: ______________________________________ Amino acid Rel. no. residue res./molec. ______________________________________ Asp/Asn 22 Glu/Gln 24 Ser 24 Gly 29 His 5 Arg 13 Thr 11 Ala 18 Lys 12 Tyr 11 Val 14 Met 3 Cys 16 Ile 15 Leu 15 Pro 14 Phe 7 Trp ND ______________________________________

Claim 6

The osteogenic protein of claim 1 further comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: fragment 1, (residues 93 to 109 of Seq. ID No. 20); fragment 2, (residues 121 to 134 of Seq. ID No. 22); fragment 4, (residues 153 to 165 of Seq. ID No. 22); fragment 5, (residues 137 to 151 of Seq. ID No. 22); and fragment 6, (residues 77 to 83 of Seq. ID No. 20).

Claim 7

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OPS).

Claim 8

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OPS).

Claim 9

The protein of claim 6 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 330 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP7).

Claim 10

The protein of claim 7 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 318 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Val).

Claim 11

The protein of claim 8 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 316 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Ala).

Claim 12

The protein of claim 9 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 315 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Met).

Claim 13

The protein of claim 10 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 313 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Leu).

Claim 14

The protein of claim 11 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 300 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Ser).

Claim 15

The protein of claim 12 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 293 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-18Ser).

Claim 16

The protein of claim 13 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 1 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (hOP1-PP).

Claim 17

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 334 to 430 of Seq. ID No. 24.

Claim 18

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 334 to 430 of Seq. ID No. 24.

Claim 19

The protein of claim 15 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 292 to 430 of Seq. ID No. 24 (mOP1-Ser).

Claim 20

The protein of claim 16 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 1 to 430 of Seq. ID No. 24 (mOP1-PP).

Claim 21

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 303 to 399 of Seq. ID No. 26.

Claim 22

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 303 to 399 of Seq. ID No. 26.

Claim 23

The protein of claim 18 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 261 to 399 of Seq. ID No. 26 (mOP2-Ala).

Claim 24

The protein of claim 19 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 1 to 399 of Seq. ID No. 26 (mOP2-PP).

Claim 25

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 306 to 402 of Seq. ID No. 28.

Claim 26

An isolated protein comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 306 to 402 of Seq. ID No. 28.

Claim 27

The protein of claim 21 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 270-402 of Seq. ID No. 28 (hOP2-Arg).

Claim 28

The protein of claim 22 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 267 to 402 of Seq. ID No. 28 (hOP2-Pro).

Claim 29

The protein of claim 23 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 264 to 402 of Seq. ID No. 28 (hOP2-Ala).

Claim 30

The protein of claim 24 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 243 to 402 of Seq. ID No. 28 (hOP2-Ser).

Claim 31

The protein of claim 25 comprising the amino acid sequence described by residues 1 to 402 of Seq. ID No. 28 (hOP2-PP).

Claim 32

The protein of claim 6, 15, 18 or 21 capable of inducing cartilage and bone formation when implanted in a mammal in association with a matrix.

Claim 33

Osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, the protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, one of said subunits having an amino acid sequence sufficiently duplicative of the sequence comprising residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OPS), such that the disulfide bonded dimeric species comprising said subunit has a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal.

Claim 34

Osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, the protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, one of said subunits having an amino acid sequence sufficiently duplicative of the sequence comprising residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OPS), such that the disulfide bonded dimeric species comprising said subunit has a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal.

Claim 35

Osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, the protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, having a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal, one of said subunits having an amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing to a nucleic acid encoding OPS (res. 335-431, Seq. ID No. 1) under stringent hybridization conditions.

Claim 36

Osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, the protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, having a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal, one of said subunits having an amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing to a nucleic acid encoding OPS (res. 335-431, Seq. ID No. 1) under stringent hybridization conditions.

Claim 37

Osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, the protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species having a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal, one of said subunits having an amino acid sequence comprising OPS (residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1), including mutated forms thereof, allelic variants thereof, truncated forms thereof and biosynthetic analogs thereof.

Claim 38

Osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, the protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species having a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal, one of said subunits having an amino acid sequence comprising OPS (residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1), including mutated forms thereof, allelic variants thereof, truncated forms thereof and biosynthetic analogs thereof.

Claim 39

The protein of claim 28 or 29 wherein said subunit comprises an amino acid sequence sharing greater than 65% identity with an amino acid sequence comprising OPS.

Claim 40

The protein of claim 28 or 29 wherein said subunit comprises OPS.

Claim 41

The protein of claim 28, 29 or 30 wherein said subunit comprises OP7 (res. 330 to 431, Seq. ID No. 1).

Claim 42

The protein of claim 28, 29 or 30 wherein said subunit is derived from hOP1-PP (res. 1-431, Seq. ID No. 1).

Claim 43

The protein of claim 28, 29 or 30 wherein the other said subunit comprises OPS (residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1).

Claim 44

The protein of claim 28, 29 or 30 wherein the other subunit comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: CBMP2AS (residues 301 to 396 of Seq. ID No. 4); CBMP2BS (residues 313 to 408 of Seq. ID No. 6); CBMP2AL (residues 296 to 396 of Seq. ID No. 4); and CBMP2BL (residues 308 to 408 of Seq. ID No. 6).

Claim 45

The protein of claim 28, 29 or 30 wherein the other subunit comprises an amino acid sequence derived from an immature sequence selected from the group consisting of: hOP1-PP (Seq. ID No. 1, res. 1-431); CBMP2A (residues 1 to 396 of Seq. ID No. 4); and CBMP2B (residues 1 to 408 of Seq. ID No. 6).

Claim 46

A dimeric protein expressed from a nucleic acid encoding an amino acid sequence sufficiently duplicative of the amino acid sequence encoded by the DNA sequence of Seq. ID No. 1 or Seq. ID No. 3 such that, when said protein is oxidized to produce a disulfide bonded dimeric species, the dimeric species has a conformation that is capable of inducing endochondral bone and cartilage formation when disposed within a matrix and implanted in a mammal.

Claim 47

A dimeric protein expressed from a nucleic acid encoding an amino acid sequence sufficiently duplicative of the amino acid sequence encoded by the DNA sequence of Seq. ID No. 1 or Seq. ID No. 3 such that, when said protein is oxidized to produce a disulfide bonded dimeric species, the dimeric species has a conformation that is capable of inducing endochondral bone and cartilage formation when disposed within a matrix and implanted in a mammal.

Claim 48

The protein of claim 28 or 29 wherein said subunit comprises at least the osteogenically active region of a protein selected from the group consisting of: mOP1-PP (residues 1-430, Seq. ID No. 24); mOP2-PP (residues 1-399 of Seq. ID No. 26); and hOP2-PP (residues 1-402 of Seq. ID No. 28).

Claim 49

The protein of claim 38 expressed from recombinant DNA in a mammalian host cell.

Claim 50

An osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a mammalian host cell and capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal, the protein comprising two oxidized subunits, the amino acid sequence of each subunit being sufficiently duplicative of the amino sequence described by residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OPS) such that the dimeric species comprising said subunits has a conformation that is capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within said matrix and implanted in said mammal.

Claim 51

An osteogenic protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a mammalian host cell and capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within a matrix implanted in said mammal, the protein comprising two oxidized subunits, the amino acid sequence of each subunit being sufficiently duplicative of the amino sequence described by residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OPS) such that the dimeric species comprising said subunits has a conformation that is capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when disposed within said matrix and implanted in said mammal.

Claim 52

The protein of claim 41 wherein the amino acid sequence of each said subunit has greater than 65% identity with the amino acid sequence described by residues 335 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OPS).

Claim 53

The protein of claim 41 wherein the amino acid sequence of each said subunit comprises a sequence independently selected from the group consisting of: residues 318 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Val); residues 293 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-18Ser); residues 300 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Ser); residues 313 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Leu); residues 315 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Met); and residues 316 to 431 of Seq. ID No. 1 (OP1-16Ala).

Claim 54

The protein of claim 41 wherein said protein is unglycosylated.

Claim 55

An isolated polypeptide chain useful as a subunit of a dimeric osteogenic protein, said polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence sharing greater than 74% identity with the sequence described by residues 264-402 of Seq. ID No. 28 (hOP2-Ala) such that the disulfide bonded dimeric species comprising said polypeptide chain is capable of inducing endochondral bone formation when implanted in a mammal in association with a matrix.

Claim 56

An isolated polypeptide chain useful as a subunit of a dimeric osteogenic protein, said polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence sharing greater than 74% identity with the sequence described by residues 264-402 of Seq. ID No. 28 (hOP2-Ala) such that the disulfide bonded dimeric species comprising said polypeptide chain is capable of inducing endochondral bone formation when implanted in a mammal in association with a matrix.

Claim 57

An isolated polypeptide chain useful as a subunit of a dimeric osteogenic protein having a conformation capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when implanted in a mammal in association with a matrix, said polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing to a nucleic acid encoding the pro region of mOP2-PP (res. 17-260 of Seq. ID No. 26) or hOP2-PP (res. 17-263 of Seq. ID No. 28) under stringent hybridization conditions.

Claim 58

An isolated polypeptide chain useful as a subunit of a dimeric osteogenic protein having a conformation capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when implanted in a mammal in association with a matrix, said polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing to a nucleic acid encoding the pro region of mOP2-PP (res. 17-260 of Seq. ID No. 26) or hOP2-PP (res. 17-263 of Seq. ID No. 28) under stringent hybridization conditions.

Claim 59

The polypeptide chain of claim 45 or 46 having an amino acid sequence sharing greater than 80% identity with the amino acid sequence of hOP2-Ala.

Claim 60

The polypeptide chain of claim 47 having an amino acid sequence sharing greater than 85% identity with the amino acid sequence of hOP2-Ala.

Claim 61

The polypeptide chain of claim 45 or 46 wherein said amino acid sequence is selected from the group consisting of: mOP2-Ala (residues 261-399 Seq. ID No. 26); hOP2-Ala (residues 264-402 of Seq. ID No. 28); hOP2-Pro (residues 267-402 of Seq. ID No. 28); hOP2-Arg (residues 270-402 of Seq. ID No. 28) and hOP2-Ser (residues 243-402 of Seq. ID No. 28).

Claim 62

The polypeptide chain of claim 45 or 46 wherein said amino acid sequence is derived from an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: mOP2-PP (residues 1-399 of Seq. ID No. 26) and hOP2-PP (residues 1-402 of Seq. ID No. 28) including allelic variants thereof, and natural and biosynthetic mutants thereof.

Claim 63

The polypeptide chain of claim 45 or 46 that is glycosylated.

Claim 64

An isolated dimeric protein capable of inducing cartilage or endochondral bone formation in a mammal when implanted in said mammal in association with a matrix, said protein comprising a pair of disulfide-bonded polypeptide chains constituting a dimeric species, wherein each said polypeptide chain is the polypeptide chain of claim 45 or 46.

Claim 65

The dimeric protein of claim 52 wherein each said polypeptide chain is independently selected and comprises at least the osteogenically active region of mOP2-PP (residues 1-399 of Seq. ID No. 26) or hOP2-PP (residues 1-402 of Seq. ID No. 28).

Claim 66

The dimeric protein of claim 53, wherein each said polypeptide chain is independently selected from the group consisting of: mOP2-Ala (residues 261-399 Seq. ID No. 26); hOP2-Ala (residues 264-402 of Seq. ID No. 28); hOP2-Pro (residues 267-402 of Seq. ID No. 28); hOP2-Arg (residues 270-402 of Seq. ID No. 28) and hOP2-Ser (residues 243-402 of Seq. ID No. 28).

Claim 67

An isolated osteogenic protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, one of said subunits comprising a polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence comprising the sequence OPX-7C (Seq. ID No. 31), wherein each Xaa independently represents one of the 20 naturally occurring L-isomer, α-amino acids or a derivative thereof, and together with said 7 cysteine residues define said polypeptide chain, such that the dimeric species comprising said subunit has a conformation capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when implanted in said mammal in association with a matrix.

Claim 68

An isolated osteogenic protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, one of said subunits comprising a polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence comprising the sequence OPX-7C (Seq. ID No. 31), wherein each Xaa independently represents one of the 20 naturally occurring L-isomer, α-amino acids or a derivative thereof, and together with said 7 cysteine residues define said polypeptide chain, such that the dimeric species comprising said subunit has a conformation capable of inducing endochondral bone formation in a mammal when implanted in said mammal in association with a matrix.

Claim 69

The polypeptide chain of claim 55 wherein the sequence further comprises the amino acid sequence: ______________________________________ Cys Xaa Xaa Xaa Xaa 1 5 ______________________________________ (OPX-8C, Seq. ID No. 32), and wherein each Xaa independently represents one of the 20 naturally occurring L-isomer, α-amino acids or a derivative thereof, and together with said 8 cysteine residues define said polypeptide chain.

Claim 70

An isolated protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, one of said subunits comprising a polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence comprising OPX (Seq. ID No. 30) such that the dimeric species comprising said subunit has a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when implanted in said mammal in association on with a matrix.

Claim 71

An isolated protein comprising a pair of oxidized subunits disulfide bonded to produce a dimeric species, one of said subunits comprising a polypeptide chain having an amino acid sequence comprising OPX (Seq. ID No. 30) such that the dimeric species comprising said subunit has a conformation capable of inducing cartilage and endochondral bone formation in a mammal when implanted in said mammal in association on with a matrix.

Claim 72

A protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, said protein comprising an amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing to a nucleic acid encoding residues 306-402 of hOP2 (Seq. ID No. 28) under stringent hybridization conditions.

Claim 73

A protein expressed from recombinant DNA in a host cell, said protein comprising an amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid capable of hybridizing to a nucleic acid encoding residues 306-402 of hOP2 (Seq. ID No. 28) under stringent hybridization conditions.