Apoptosis inducing agent and method for inducing apoptosis

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel means for stably and surely inducing cell apoptosis using the c-myc gene as a target. The present invention relates to an apoptosis-inducing agent containing a protein that interacts with an FBP protein or a polynucleotide encoding the protein as an active ingredient and a method for inducing apoptosis, which comprises a step of causing the apoptosis-inducing agent to come into contact with cells.

1 . An apoptosis-inducing agent, which contains a protein that interacts with a FUSE binding protein as an active ingredient.  
     
     
         2 . The apoptosis-inducing agent according to  claim 1 , wherein the protein interacting with the FUSE binding protein is: 
 a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2 in the sequence listing;    a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence derived from the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2 in the sequence listing by deletion, substitution, or addition of one or several amino acids and having apoptosis-inducing activity; or    a partial peptide thereof.    
     
     
         3 . An apoptosis-inducing agent, which contains a polynucleotide encoding a protein that interacts with an FUSE binding protein as an active ingredient.  
     
     
         4 . The apoptosis-inducing agent according to  claim 3 , wherein the polynucleotide encoding the protein that interacts with the FUSE binding protein is: a polynucleotide consisting of the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 in the sequence listing; 
 a polynucleotide hybridizing under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide consisting of a nucleotide sequence complementary to the polynucleotide consisting of the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 in the sequence listing and encoding a protein having apoptosis-inducing activity; or    a partial fragment thereof.    
     
     
         5 . The apoptosis-inducing agent according to any one of  claims 1  to  4 , which has a form that allows it to be introduced into a cell.  
     
     
         6 . The apoptosis-inducing agent according to  claim 5 , wherein the form that allows introduction into a cell is a vector.  
     
     
         7 . The apoptosis-inducing agent according to  claim 1 , which is used for treating cancer.  
     
     
         8 . A method for inducing apoptosis, which is a method for inducing apoptosis in a cell that proliferates due to the expression of a c-myc gene and which comprises a step of causing the apoptosis-inducing agent according to  claim 1  to come into contact with the cell.  
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the cell is a cancer cell.  
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8  or  9 , wherein the cell is a cell within a mammalian body.  
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the mammal is a human.  
     
     
         12 . A method for treating cancer, wherein an effective dose of: a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2 in the sequence listing; a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence derived from the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 2 in the sequence listing by deletion, substitution, or addition of 1 or several amino acids and having apoptosis-inducing activity; or a partial peptide thereof is administered to a mammal.  
     
     
         13 . A method for treating cancer, wherein an effective dose of: a polynucleotide consisting of the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 in the sequence listing; a polynucleotide hybridizing under stringent conditions to a polynucleotide consisting of a nucleotide sequence complementary to the polynucleotide consisting of the nucleotide sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 in the sequence listing and encoding a protein having apoptosis-inducing activity; or a fragment thereof is administered to a mammal.  
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 12  or  13 , wherein the mammal is a human.