Patent ID: 8053408

Claim:
A method for reducing body weight in a mammal comprising administering to a human patient in need thereof: (a) an isolated polypeptide comprising: (i) an amino acid sequence that is that is at least 95% identical to the amino acid sequence of either SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5; (ii) a fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5 comprising at least 150 amino acid residues; or (iii) an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5 having a C- and/or N-terminal truncation, wherein the polypeptide comprises at least 150 amino acid residues; (b) an isolated polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence that is encoded by: (i) a nucleotide sequence that is at least 95% identical to the nucleotide sequence of either SEQ ID NO: 1 or the DNA insert in ATCC Deposit No. PTA-626; (ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide that is at least 95% identical to the polypeptide of either SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5; or (iii) a region of the nucleotide sequence of either SEQ ID NO: 1 or the DNA insert in ATCC Deposit No. PTA-626, encoding a polypeptide fragment of at least 150 amino acid residues; (c) a pharmaceutical composition comprising an isolated polypeptide comprising: (i) an amino acid sequence that is that is at least 95% identical to the amino acid sequence of either SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5; (ii) a fragment of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5 comprising at least 150 amino acid residues; or (iii) an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5 having a C- and/or N-terminal truncation, wherein the polypeptide comprises at least 150 amino acid residues; and a pharmaceutically acceptable formulation agent; or (d) a pharmaceutical composition comprising an isolated polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence that is encoded by: (i) a nucleotide sequence that is at least 95% identical to the nucleotide sequence of either SEQ ID NO: 1 or the DNA insert in ATCC Deposit No. PTA-626; (ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide that is at least 95% identical to the polypeptide of either SEQ ID NO: 2 or SEQ ID NO: 5; or (iii) a region of the nucleotide sequence of either SEQ ID NO: 1 or the DNA insert in ATCC Deposit No. PTA-626, encoding a polypeptide fragment of at least 150 amino acid residues; and a pharmaceutically acceptable formulation agent.