Patent 7118903 was granted and assigned to Shionogi on October, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An L-methionine γ-lyase having modified function which is obtained by structurally stabilizing natural L-methionine γ-lyase by analyzing the structure of crystals thereof by using X-ray, estimating an amino acid sequence concerning its substrate specificity and varying amino acid residue thereof; enzymes comprising a protein constituting the L-methionine γ-lyase having modified function or its multimer (preferably its tetramer); DNA sequences encoding these enzymes; a process for producing these enzymes; and medicinal preparations (preferably anticancer agent) containing these enzymes.