THE DESIGN, PRODUCTION, PURIFICATION, AND TESTING OF A CHIMERIC ANTIGEN PROTEIN TO BE USED AS AN IMMUNOSTERILANT IN DOMESTIC-ANIMALS

A method is described for the design of a protein that incorporates a carrier molecule fused to a novel tandem repeat configuration of a 10 amino acid peptide, Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone (GnRH), which norm ally would not be immunogenic because it is a self-antigen. This molec ule can be produced with adequate yield in E. coli bacteria and purifi ed to homogeneity using standard chromatographic procedures. When low doses of the molecule are injected with an appropriate adjuvant, rats and pigs respond by producing high antibody titres to GnRH. The immuni zation results in a dramatic reduction of pituitary gonadotrophin secr etion and, as a consequence, reduces steroid secretion and causes gona dal atrophy.