Patent Number : 5 , 756 , 686 45 ) Date of Patent : May 26 , 1998

Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) is a 45 kDa endothelial cell mitogen that has been purified to homogeneity from human platelets. It does not bind to heparin and does not stimulate the proliferation of fibroblasts, in contrast to other endothelial mitogens of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family. PD-ECGF appears to be the only endothelial cell growth factor in human platelets and recent data indicate that it has angiogenic activity in vitro. i.e., the ability to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels and chemotactic activity, in vitro. The present inven tion provides a homogeneous PD-ECGF in substantially greater yields than available in the past, the primary struc ture of PD-ECGF, antibodies against PD-ECGF, clones of its cDNA, and variants thereof. The invention also provides a therapeutic preparation of PD-ECGF.