Protein belonging to the TNF superfamily involved in signal transduction, nucleic acids encoding same, and methods of use thereof

An isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a TRANCE polypeptide, wherein the nucleotide sequence of said isolated nucleic acid molecule consists of the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1.

An isolated mammalian cell comprising a DNA sequence which encodes a TRANCE polypeptide, wherein the amino acid sequence of said TRANCE polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence as set forth in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2), and further wherein said mammalian cell is modified in vitro to permit expression of TRANCE by inserting a promoter in functional proximity to the TRANCE polypeptide encoding sequence.

A method of producing an isolated polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising the steps of:

• a) culturing a unicellular host transformed with an expression vector comprising an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-Related Activation Induced Cytokine (TRANCE) polypeptide, wherein the amino acid sequence of said TRANCE polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence as set forth in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) under conditions that provide for expression of said isolated polypeptide;
• and
• b) recovering said isolated polypeptide from said host, the culture, or both.