Therapeutic agents for angiogenesis-related diseases comprising chondromodulin-i as active ingredient

A method of treating an angiogenesis-related disease, the method comprising administering to a patient an agent comprising as an active ingredient any one of:

• (a) a chondromodulin-I protein;
• (b) a protein functionally equivalent to a chondromodulin-I protein, which comprises an amino acid sequence with 30 or fewer acid deletions, substitutions, or additions in the amino acid sequence of the chondromodulin-I protein;
• (c) a DNA encoding the protein of (a) or (b);
• (d) a chondromodulin-I protein expression-activating substance;
• and
• (e) a chondromodulin-I protein function-activating substance.

A method of screening for a therapeutic agent for angiogenesis-related disease, which comprises the steps of:

• (a) contacting a test compound with cells expressing a chondromodulin-I protein;
• (b) measuring expression level of the chondromodulin-I protein in said cells;
• and
• (c) selecting a compound that increases the expression level compared with that measured in the absence of the test compound, thus selecting a therapeutic agent for angiogenesis-related disease.

A method of screening for a therapeutic agent for angiogenesis-related disease, which comprises the steps of:

• (a) contacting a test compound with cells or an extract solution of cells comprising a DNA structured such that a reporter gene is operably linked to the transcriptional regulatory region of a chondromodulin-I gene;
• (b) measuring expression level of said reporter gene;
• and
• (c) selecting a compound that increases the expression level compared with that measured in the absence of the test compound, thus selecting a therapeutic agent for angiogenesis-related disease.

A method of screening for a therapeutic agent for angiogenesis-related disease, which comprises the steps of:

• (a) contacting a test compound with a chondromodulin-I protein, or cells or an extract solution of cells expressing said protein;
• (b) measuring activity of said protein;
• and
• (c) selecting a compound that increases the protein activity compared with that measured in the absence of the test compound, thus selecting a therapeutic agent for angiogenesis-related disease.

A method of producing an artificial heart valve, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) culturing and growing cells that express a chondromodulin-I gene;
• (b) seeding the cells of (a) onto the surface of a decellularized valve or biodegradable high-molecular compound;
• and
• (c) culturing until the cells expressing the chondromodulin-I gene fill the pore spaces of the decellularized valve or biodegradable high-molecular compound of (b).