| abstract |
Disclosed are (1) an active human NGF protein having 6 cysteine residues in its molecule, in which the first cysteine residue from the N-terminus is bound to the fourth cysteine residue, the second cysteine residue to the fifth cysteine residue, and the third cysteine residue to the sixth cysteine residue to form disulfide bonds, (2) an animal cell which is transformed with a vector containing a gene coding for a human NGF protein and is cloned, (3) the animal cell described in (2), in which a host is a Chinese hamster CHO cell, and (4) a method for producing a human NGF protein which comprises cultivating the animal cell described in (2) or (3) in a medium. The human NGF proteins having specific disulfide bonds can be advantageously used as reagents or therapeutic drugs, and the cloned animal cells can commercially produce the high pure human NGF proteins in large amounts. |