Patent ID: 7056882

Claim:
A therapeutic treatment method for preventing loss of bone mass or increasing bone mass in an individual, the method comprising: systemically administering to the individual a therapeutically effective morphogen in an amount and for a time sufficient to prevent loss of or to increase bone mass in said individual, wherein the morphogen comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of a sequence: (a) having at least 70% homology with the C-terminal seven-cysteine skeleton of human OP-1 as set forth in residues 330-431 of SEQ ID NO: 5; (b) having greater than 60% amino acid sequence identity with said C-terminal seven-cysteine skeleton of human OP-1; and (c) defined by OPX, SEQ ID NO: 29, wherein said morphogen stimulates endochondral bone formation in an in vivo bone assay.