Patent ID: 8501439

Claim:
A method for the preparation of biologically active proNGF, comprising: (a) recombinantly expressing a proNGF coding sequence in a prokaryote to produce a proNGF polypeptide comprising its complete prosequence, wherein the proNGF polypeptide comprising its complete prosequence is present in the prokaryote in inclusion bodies; (b) transferring the inclusion bodies comprising the proNGF polypeptide comprising its complete prosequence into a solution of a denaturing agent to obtain a denatured and solubilized proNGF polypeptide; and (c) transferring the denatured and solubilized proNGF polypeptide into a non-denaturing or weakly denaturing renaturation solution with a pH of between 7 and 10, wherein the denatured and solubilized proNGF polypeptide remains soluble in the renaturation solution and assumes a biologically active conformation comprising the same disulfide bonds that are present in native proNGF, whereby biologically active proNGF is obtained.