S. Subramanian et al., Immunocontraceptive potential of major antigenic determinants of chicken riboflavin carrier protein in the female rat, VACCINE, 19(9-10), 2000, pp. 1172-1179
Earlier investigations have demonstrated that antibodies generated against
the N-terminal (10-17) and C-terminal (200-207) ends of chicken riboflavin
carrier protein (RCP; 219 AA), but not towards the internal region (172-179
), curtail pregnancy establishment in rodents and sub-human primates. In th
ose studies, epitope peptides conjugated to diphtheria toroid were used as
immunogens. In the present study, linkage of these sequences to extraneous
carriers was avoided to rule out the possibility of carrier-mediated suppre
ssion of hapten-specific antibody production in long-term immune response.
The ability of these three free peptides to function as minivaccines was ex
amined and the functional importance of these sequences in pregnancy establ
ishment in rodents were evaluated. The results obtained reveal that the pep
tides YGC (residues 3-24) and HAC (residues 200-219) serve as immunocontrac
eptive vaccines. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.