Novel nucleic acid and amino acid sequences

Abstract

The invention concerns novel nucleic acid sequences and amino acid sequences of a novel variant of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The invention further concerns expression vectors and host cells containing said sequences as well as pharmaceutical compositions and detection methods using said sequences.

1 . An isolated nucleic acid molecule consisting essentially of a sequence selected from: 
 (i) a nucleic acid sequence coding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2;    (ii) a nucleic acid sequence that is complementary to the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1;    (iii) a nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1.    
     
     
         2 . An expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule of  claim 1  and control elements for expression of the nucleic acid molecule in a suitable host cell.  
     
     
         3 . A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and, as an active ingredient, an expression vector comprising 
 (i) a nucleic acid molecule of  claim 1  operatively linked to    (ii) a control element for the expression of said nucleic acid molecule in a host cell within a treated individual.    
     
     
         4 . The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 3 , in which the nucleic acid molecule (i) is oriented in the antisense direction.  
     
     
         5 . A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and, as an active ingredient, the nucleic acid molecule (i) of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         6 . A method for treatment of a disease in an individual, which disease can be ameliorated or cured by raising the level of a vascular endothelial growth factor variant (VEGFV) product, comprising administering to the individual a pharmaceutical composition of  claim 3 .  
     
     
         7 . A method for treatment of a disease in an individual, which disease can be ameliorated or cured by raising the level of a vascular endothelial growth factor variant (VEGFV) product, comprising administering to the individual a pharmaceutical composition of  claim 5 .  
     
     
         8 . A method for treatment of a disease in an individual, which disease can be ameliorated or cured by decreasing the level of the vascular endothelial growth factor variant (VEGFV) product, comprising administering to the individual a pharmaceutical composition of  claim 4 .  
     
     
         9 . A method for treatment of a disease in an individual, which disease can be ameliorated or cured by decreasing the level of the vascular endothelial growth factor variant (VEGFV) product, comprising administering to the individual a pharmaceutical composition of  claim 5 .  
     
     
         10 . A method for detecting a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Variant nucleic acid sequence in a biological sample, comprising: 
 (a) contacting a probe nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid sequence of  claim 1 , with the biological sample and applying conditions such that said probe nucleic acid will hybridize to complementary nucleic acids if present in said sample; and    (b) detecting a hybridization complex.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said biological sample comprises mRNA transcripts.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the probe nucleic acid sequence is immobilized.