Midkine-like protein

A composition of matter comprising:

• a) an isolated polypeptide that does not comprise the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:10, wherein said isolated polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of:
• 1) an amino acid sequence comprising that recited in SEQ ID NO:2;
• 2) a fragment of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said fragment comprises at least a fragment of SEQ ID NO:8, and wherein said isolated polypeptide has the activity of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6 or has an antigenic determinant that is specific to a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO:2;
• 3) a functional equivalent of 1) or 2), wherein the functional equivalent has the activity of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6 or has an antigenic determinant that is specific to a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO:2;
• 4) an amino acid sequence comprising that recited in SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6;
• 5) an amino acid sequence consisting of that recited in SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6;
• 6) a fragment of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6, wherein the fragment comprises SEQ ID NO:8 or SEQ ID NO:2, and wherein the isolated polypeptide has the activity of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6 or has an antigenic determinant that is specific to a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO:2;
• 7) a functional equivalent of 4), 5), or 6), wherein the functional equivalent has the activity of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6 or has an antigenic determinant that is specific to a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO:2, and wherein the functional equivalent comprises SEQ ID NO:8 or SEQ ID NO:2;
• 8) the functional equivalent of 3) or 7), characterized in that it has at least 70% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, or SEQ ID NO:8;
• 9) the functional equivalent of 3) or 7), characterized in that it has at least 90% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, or SEQ ID NO:8;
• 10) the fragment or functional equivalent of 2), 3), 6), or 7), which further comprises a sequence having a degree of sequence identity with the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:8 of greater than 60%;
• 11) the fragment or functional equivalent of 2), 3), 6), or 7), wherein the fragment or functional equivalent comprises a sequence having a degree of sequence identity with the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:8 of greater than 90%;
• 12) the functional equivalent of 3), 7), 10), or 11), wherein the functional equivalent comprises the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:8;
• and
• 13) the fragment of 2), 6), 10), or 11), wherein the fragment has an antigenic determinant that is specific to a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO:2 which consists of 7 or more amino acid residues from the amino acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:2 or SEQ ID NO:8;
• or
• b) a purified mRNA or cDNA nucleic acid molecule, or a nucleic acid molecule complementary thereto:
• 1) encoding, or whose complement encodes, a polypeptide of any of a1) to a13);
• or
• 2) comprising the nucleic acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:
• 1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, or SEQ ID NO:7, or is a redundant equivalent or fragment of any of the foregoing;
• or
• 3) consisting of the nucleic acid sequence recited in SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, or SEQ ID NO:7, or is a redundant equivalent or fragment of any of the foregoing;
• or
• 4) that hybridizes under high stringency conditions with SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5, but which does not hybridize under high stringency conditions to SEQ ID NO:
• 11;
• or
• c) a vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule according to any one of b1) to b4);
• or
• d) a host cell transformed with a vector or a nucleic acid molecule according to any one of b) or c);
• or
• e) a ligand:
• 1) that binds specifically to the polypeptide of any of a1) to a13);
• or
• 2) which is an antibody that binds specifically to the polypeptide of any of a1) to a13);
• or
• f) a compound:
• 1) that increases the level of expression or activity of a polypeptide according to any of a1) to a13);
• or
• 2) that decreases the level of expression or activity of a polypeptide according to any of a1) to a13);
• or
• g) a compound that binds to a polypeptide according to any of a1) to a13) without inducing any of the biological effects of the polypeptide;
• or
• h) a compound that binds to a polypeptide according to any of a1) to a13) without inducing any of the biological effects of the polypeptide, wherein the compound is a natural or modified substrate, ligand, enzyme, receptor or structural or functional mimetic;
• or
• i) a pharmaceutical composition comprising any one of a) to h), and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier;
• or
• j) a vaccine composition comprising any one of a1) to a13) or b1) to b4);
• or
• k) a kit for diagnosing disease, comprising a first container containing a nucleic acid probe that hybridizes under stringent conditions with a nucleic acid molecule of any one of b1) to b4), a second container containing primers useful for amplifying the nucleic acid molecule, and instructions for using the probe and primers for facilitating the diagnosis of disease;
• or
• l) a kit for diagnosing disease, comprising a first container containing a nucleic acid probe that hybridizes under stringent conditions with a nucleic acid molecule of any one of b1) to b4);
• a second container containing primers useful for amplifying the nucleic acid molecule;
• a third container holding an agent for digesting unhybridized RNA;
• and instructions for using the probe and primers for facilitating the diagnosis of disease;
• or
• m) a kit comprising an array of nucleic acid molecules, at least one of which is a nucleic acid molecule according to any one of b1) to b4);
• or
• n) a kit comprising one or more antibodies that bind to a polypeptide as recited in any one of a1) to a13);
• and areagent useful for the detection of a binding reaction between the one or more antibodies and the polypeptide;
• or
• o) a transgenic or knockout non-human animal that has been transformed to express higher, lower, or absent levels of a polypeptide according to any one of a1) to a13).