Cell growth-promoting peptide and use thereof

Abstract

The pharmaceutical composition provided by the present invention comprises at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, and an active ingredient including an artificially synthesized peptide comprises: (A) an amino acid sequence constituting a cell-penetrating peptide and (B) an amino acid sequence constituting the signal peptide in amyloid precursor protein (APP) or an N-terminal partial amino acid sequence or C-terminal partial amino acid sequence from the amino acid sequence constituting that signal peptide.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 13 / 701,747 filed on Dec. 3, 2012, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,822,408, which is a Section 371 National Phase of PCT International application No. PCT / JP2011 / 062809, the entire contents of both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application also claims priority right based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-128648 filed on Jun. 4, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates to a peptide capable of promoting proliferation of stem and other cells; and use thereof. Especially, it relates to a cell growth promoter (a composition) containing the peptide and a method to produce cells of interest at an increased growth rate using the peptide.BACKGROUND ART[0003]In the field of regenerative medicine, it has been a challenge to establish a method to proliferate cells of interest at a higher rate....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]The cell growth promoter disclosed herein contains at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier (for example, at least one substrate to contribute to increase the stability of the peptide, or a fluid medium such as physiological saline or various buffers).

[0020]Because the cell growth promoter disclosed herein comprises, as an active ingredient, a peptide that can be readily produced by an artificial method such as chemical synthesis (or biosynthesis), it can be used (typically as a substitute for bFGF) to promote proliferation of eukaryotic cells of interest without using an expensive cell growth factor such as bFGF or the like in a large quantity. Since it is possible to reduce the use of an expensive cell growth factor like bFGF or others, a cost reduction can be achieved in cell culturing or biologically active substance production that involves cell proliferation; or the cost increase can be suppressed.

[0029]In another preferred aspect of the cell growth promoter disclosed herein, the total number of amino acid residues constituting the artificially synthesized peptide is not more than 40 (for example, not more than 30). A peptide having such a short peptide chain can be easily chemically synthesized and is preferred as a component of the cell growth promoter because of its inexpensive and excellent handling characteristics.

[0030]In another preferred aspect of the cell growth promoter disclosed herein, the artificially synthesized peptide has the amino acid sequence specified by (B) at the N-terminal side of the amino acid sequence specified by (A). A peptide with such a structure has a particularly good cell growth-promoting capacity. The total number of amino acid residues constituting this peptide is particularly preferably not more than 40 (for example, not more than 30) due to the simple structure and ease of chemical synthesis.

[0034]According to such a production method, it is possible to reduce the use of an expensive cell growth factor such as bFGF or others; and therefore, a cost reduction can be achieved in cell culturing or biologically active substance production that involves cell proliferation; or the cost increase can be suppressed.

[0035]The production method disclosed herein can be preferably carried out in order to facilitate repairing or regeneration of an affected area of a subject (patient). That is, because the method disclosed herein enables efficient in-vitro proliferation of the cells that contribute to repairing or regeneration, the cells efficiently proliferated in vitro by carrying out the present method can be placed internally to the body of a subject (patient), thereby bringing about a reduction in the time for repair or regeneration.

Problems solved by technology

In the field of regenerative medicine, it has been a challenge to establish a method to proliferate cells of interest at a higher rate.

However, as the currently available bFGF is very expensive, it is financially difficult to use the growth factor in a relatively large quantity for cell proliferation.

Moreover, using bFGF for the purpose of cell proliferation may become a significant cause to increase the cost of cell manufacturing and tissue regeneration involving the said proliferation.