The present invention relates to a compound of the formula: H2N-AXBAXB-HOOC (wherein A is a sequence of consecutive amino acids, the sequence of which (1) contains the same sequence as amino acids 90 to 93 of wild-type HMGB1, (2) has 1 to 6 consecutive amino acids, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 amino acids, at its
amino terminal side, whose sequence is the same as the sequence of the corresponding 1 to 6 amino acids preceding
amino acid 90 of wild-type HMGB1, and optionally (3) the amino terminus is
methionine, and X is a sequence of consecutive amino acids, the sequence of which is the same as
amino acid 94 of wild-type HMGB1. (1) a sequence identical to the sequence of amino acids 163 to 168 of wild-type HMGB1; and (2) a sequence identical to the sequence of 1 to 6 consecutive amino acids, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 amino acids, at its carboxy terminus, whose sequence is identical to the sequence of 1 to 6 corresponding amino acids after
amino acid 168 of wild-type HMGB1, and each - represents
a peptide bond between A and X, X and B, B and A, A and X, and X and B, respectively. The present invention provides a polypeptide represented by the formula: