The present invention provides novel esterase proteins, Specifically, the
present invention provides proteins having the same or substantially the
same amino acid sequence as the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID
NO: 1 or SEQ ID NO: 7, or salts thereof; their partial peptides or salts
thereof: DNAs encoding the proteins; recombinant vectors containing the
DNAs; transformants, a method of manufacturing the proteins;
pharmaceuticals comprising the proteins or DNAs; antibodies to the
proteins; a method of screening compounds or salts thereof having an
activity of promoting the esterase activity of the proteins; the
compounds obtained by the screening; and pharmaceuticals comprising the
said compounds; etc.