Patent ID: 7601518

Claim:
A method for producing a secreted biologically active neublastin (NBN) polypeptide, comprising culturing an eukaryotic cell comprising an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid comprising a promoter sequence operatively linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding an immunoglobulin signal peptide (IgSP) and a neublastin polypeptide, wherein the neublastin polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence of at least about 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 14, SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 20, SEQ ID NO: 22, or SEQ ID NO: 23, wherein said polypeptide induces RET dimerization and autophosphorylation, and wherein said nucleotide sequence does not encode a functional neublastin proregion.