Patent Application: US-96684204-A

Abstract:
the invention provides an immunogenic composition comprising a gnrh multimer and an antigenic carrier , an immunogenic composition comprising a recombinant vector containing a nucleic acid molecule encoding a gnrh multimer and optionally an antigenic carrier , antibodies elicited by the immunogenic compositions , and methods of using the immunogenic compositions and antibodies for modifying sexual physiology and behavior , improving the organoleptic properties of meat , and treating androgen - dependent prostate tumors and gnrh - sensitive ovarian tumors .

Description:
a completely novel approach must be devised which fulfills the ideal criteria outlined above . tetanus toxoid ( tt ) has been used extensively in anti - gnrh vaccine development because tt is a member of the super antigen class and serves well as a “ carrier ” antigen ( chengalvala et al ., 1999 ). vaxin , inc has developed a vaccine vectored by human adenovirus ( ad ) which expresses the non - toxic tetanus toxin c fragment . adcmv - tetc is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 348 , 450 b1 issued feb . 19 , 2002 . the original purpose of this product was immunization of humans against illness and death due to the toxin produced by the organism clostridium tetani resulting from contaminated wounds . this vaccine has been successful in producing anti - tetc antibody in mice which is protective against clostridium tetani challenge . the combined effectiveness of this adcmv - tetc vaccine with the addition of a multimer of gnrh is believed to be exactly the novel approach which may provide the vigorous , sustained immune response required for an effective anti - gnrh immunocontraceptive vaccine . see also makoffet al . ( 1989 ) for a description of tetc optimization for expression in e . coli , and shi et al . ( 2001 ) for modification of synthetic tetc [ makoff , a . j ., oxer , m . d ., romanos , m . a ., fairweathre , n . f ., and ballantine , s . expression of tetanus toxin fragment c in e . coli : high level expression by removing rare codons . nucleic acids res . 17 , 10191 - 10202 ( 1989 ); shi , z ., zeng , m ., yang , g ., siegel , f ., cain , l . j ., van kampen , k . r ., and tang , d . c . protection against tetanus by needle - free inoculation of adenovirus - vectored nasal and epicutaneous vaccines . j . virol . 75 , 11474 - 11482 ( 2001 )]. we have a method to produce a gnrh multimer cassette which provides a technical advantage for rapid construction of multimers of any size . we use primers which produce restriction enzyme sites which allow cloning into different locations including a kozak consensus translation start site . thus , with these primers we have the ability to add gnrh multimers to the 5 ′ end of the coding sequence of any carrier molecule . with this method we have produced a gnrh with 14 repeats which is used in constructing the adtetc - gnrh vaccine . we have evaluated anti - gnrh vaccines in dogs and cats using assays of reproductive hormones , anti - gnrh antibodies , reproductive behavior , fertility and histological changes in reproductive organs . a radioimmunoassay is used to assay the immunological response of dogs treated with the gnrh vaccine . one antigen was designed by inserting multiple copies of gnrh into proteins of e . coli at the precise locations known to be the primary immunogenic sites . this antigen did not achieve gonadal suppression for our target of 12 months . we believe that by using adenovirus , e . coli , poxvirus or salmonella as vectors and tetc as the antigenic carrier we can achieve this goal . as used herein , a vector is a tool that allows or facilitates the transfer of an entity from one environment to another . by way of example , some vectors used in recombinant dna techniques allow entities , such as a segment of dna ( such as a heterologous dna segment , such as a heterologous cdna segment ), to be transferred into a target cell . in an advantageous embodiment , the vector includes a viral vector , a bacterial vector , a protozoan vector , a dna vector , or a recombinant thereof . reference is made to u . s . pat . no . 5 , 990 , 091 issued nov . 23 , 1999 , einat et al . or quark biotech , inc ., wo 99 / 60164 , published nov . 25 , 1999 from pct / us99 / 11066 , filed may 14 , 1999 , fischer or rhone merieux , inc ., wo98 / 00166 , published jan . 8 , 1998 from pct / us97 / 11486 , filed jun . 30 , 1997 ( claiming priority from u . s . applications ser . nos . 08 / 675 , 556 and 08 / 675 , 566 ), van ginkel et al ., j . immunol 159 ( 2 ): 685 - 93 ( 1997 ) (“ adenoviral gene delivery elicits distinct pulmonary - associated t helper cell responses to the vector and to its transgene ”), and osterhaus et al ., immunobiology 184 ( 2 - 3 ): 180 - 92 ( 1992 ) (“ vaccination against acute respiratory virus infections and measles in man ”), for information concerning expressed gene products , antibodies and uses thereof , vectors for in vivo and in vitro expression of exogenous nucleic acid molecules , promoters for driving expression or for operatively linking to nucleic acid molecules to be expressed , method and documents for producing such vectors , compositions comprising such vectors or nucleic acid molecules or antibodies , dosages , and modes and / or routes of administration ( including compositions for nasal administration ), inter alia , which can be employed in the practice of this invention ; and thus , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 990 , 091 issued nov . 23 , 1999 , einat et al . or quark biotech , inc ., wo 99 / 60164 , published nov . 25 , 1999 from pct / us99 / 11066 , filed may 14 , 1999 , fischer or rhone merieux , inc ., wo98 / 00166 , published jan . 8 , 1998 from pct / us97 / 11486 , filed jun . 30 , 1997 ( claiming priority from u . s . applications ser . nos . 08 / 675 , 556 and 08 / 675 , 566 ), van ginkel et al ., j . immunol 159 ( 2 ): 685 - 93 ( 1997 ) (“ adenoviral gene delivery elicits distinct pulmonary - associated t helper cell responses to the vector and to its transgene ”), and osterhaus et al ., immunobiology 184 ( 2 - 3 ): 180 - 92 ( 1992 ) (“ vaccination against acute respiratory virus infections and measles in man ”) and all documents cited or referenced therein and all documents cited or referenced in documents cited in each of 5 , 990 , 091 issued nov . 23 , 1999 , einat et al . or quark biotech , inc ., wo 99 / 60164 , published nov . 25 , 1999 from pct / us99 / 11066 , filed may 14 , 1999 , fischer or rhone merieux , inc ., wo98 / 00166 , published jan . 8 , 1998 from pct / us97 / 11486 , filed jun . 30 , 1997 ( claiming priority from u . s . applications ser . nos . 08 / 675 , 556 and 08 / 675 , 566 ), van ginkel et al ., j . immunol 159 ( 2 ): 685 - 93 ( 1997 ) (“ adenoviral gene delivery elicits distinct pulmonary - associated t helper cell responses to the vector and to its transgene ”), and osterhaus et al ., immunobiology 184 ( 2 - 3 ): 180 - 92 ( 1992 ) (“ vaccination against acute respiratory virus infections and measles in man ”) are hereby incorporated herein by reference . information in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 990 , 091 issued nov . 23 , 1999 , wo 99 / 60164 , wo98 / 00166 , van ginkel et al ., j . immunol 159 ( 2 ): 685 - 93 ( 1997 ), and osterhaus et al ., immunobiology 184 ( 2 - 3 ): 180 - 92 ( 1992 ) can be relied upon for the practice of this invention ( e . g ., expressed products , antibodies and uses thereof , vectors for in vivo and in vitro expression of exogenous nucleic acid molecules , exogenous nucleic acid molecules encoding epitopes of interest or antigens or therapeutics and the like , promoters , compositions comprising such vectors or nucleic acid molecules or expressed products or antibodies , dosages , inter alia ). it is noted that immunological products and / or antibodies and / or expressed products obtained in accordance with this invention can be expressed in vitro and used in a manner in which such immunological and / or expressed products and / or antibodies are typically used , and that cells that express such immunological and / or expressed products and / or antibodies can be employed in in vitro and / or ex vivo applications , e . g ., such uses and applications can include diagnostics , assays , ex vivo therapy ( e . g ., wherein cells that express the gene product and / or immunological response are expanded in vitro and reintroduced into the host or animal ), etc ., see u . s . pat . no . 5 , 990 , 091 , wo 99 / 60164 and wo 98 / 00166 and documents cited therein . further , expressed antibodies or gene products that are isolated from herein methods , or that are isolated from cells expanded in vitro following herein administration methods , can be administered in compositions , akin to the administration of subunit epitopes or antigens or therapeutics or antibodies to induce immunity , stimulate a therapeutic response and / or stimulate passive immunity . the quantity to be administered will vary for the patient ( host ) and condition being treated and will vary from one or a few to a few hundred or thousand micrograms , e . g ., 1 μg to 1 mg , from about 100 ng / kg of body weight to 100 mg / kg of body weight per day and preferably will be from 10 μg / kg to 10 mg / kg per day . a vector can be non - invasively administered to a patient or host in an amount to achieve the amounts stated for gene product ( e . g ., epitope , antigen , therapeutic , and / or antibody ) compositions . of course , the invention envisages dosages below and above those exemplified herein , and for any composition to be administered to an animal or human , including the components thereof , and for any particular method of administration , it is preferred to determine therefore toxicity , such as by determining the lethal dose ( ld ) and ld50 in a suitable animal model e . g ., rodent such as mouse ; and , the dosage of the composition ( s ), concentration of components therein and timing of administering the composition ( s ), which elicit a suitable response , such as by titrations of sera and analysis thereof , e . g ., by elisa and / or seroneutralization analysis . such determinations do not require undue experimentation from the knowledge of the skilled artisan , this disclosure and the documents cited herein . and , the invention also comprehends sequential administration of inventive compositions or sequential performance of herein methods , e . g ., periodic administration of inventive compositions such as in the course of therapy or treatment for a condition and / or booster administration of immunological compositions and / or in prime - boost regimens ; and , the time and manner for sequential administrations can be ascertained without undue experimentation . further , the invention comprehends compositions and methods for making and using vectors , including methods for producing gene products and / or immunological products and / or antibodies in vivo and / or in vitro and / or ex vivo ( e . g ., the latter two being , for instance , after isolation therefrom from cells from a host that has had a non - invasive administration according to the invention , e . g ., after optional expansion of such cells ), and uses for such gene and / or immunological products and / or antibodies , including in diagnostics , assays , therapies , treatments , and the like . vector compositions are formulated by admixing the vector with a suitable carrier or diluent ; and , gene product and / or immunological product and / or antibody compositions are likewise formulated by admixing the gene and / or immunological product and / or antibody with a suitable carrier or diluent ; see , e . g ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 990 , 091 , wo 99 / 60164 , wo 98 / 00166 , documents cited therein , and other documents cited herein , and other teachings herein ( for instance , with respect to carriers , diluents and the like ). reference is made to patents pertaining to additional methods and compositions pertaining for contraception by vaccination , the texts of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference : ep0270056 ; ep0558631 ; ep0461177 ; ep0646015 ; u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 348 , 866 , 5 , 989 , 550 , 5 , 656 , 488 , 5 , 637 , 300 , 6 , 045 , 799 , 6 , 027 , 727 , 6 , 022 , 960 , 4 , 676 , 981 , 5 , 723 , 129 , 5 , 684 , 145 , and 5 , 573 , 767 ; wo 93 / 14786 ; wo 00 / 15253 ; wo 98 / 36073 ; and wo 93 / 14786 . for example , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 022 , 960 pertains to gnrh - leukotoxin chimeras and their use in vaccines , and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 684 , 145 pertains to gnrh conjugates to bacterial fimbrial filaments and their use in vaccines . in addition , various journal articles pertain to immunization and contraception , the texts of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference . topics covered by these articles include : failure of female baboons ( papio anubis ) to conceive following immunization with recombinant non - human primate zona pellucida glycoprotein - b expressed in e . coli . govind , c . k . ; gupta , s . k . vaccine 18 ( 26 ) pp 2970 - 8 2000 ; antigen - specific systemic and reproductive tract antibodies in foxes immunized with salmonella typhimurium expressing bacterial and sperm proteins . de jersey j , et al . reprod fertil dev 11 ( 4 - 5 ) pp 219 - 28 1999 ; infertility in female rabbits ( oryctolagus cuniculus ) alloimmunized with the rabbit zona pellucida protein zpb either as a purified recombinant protein or expressed by recombinant myxoma virus . kerr , p . j . et al . biol reprod 61 ( 3 ) pp 606 - 13 1999 ; development of a recombinant ovalbumin - lutenizing hormone releasing hormone as a potential sterilization vaccine . zhang , y . et al . vaccine 17 ( 17 ) pp 2185 - 91 1999 ; recombinant fertilization antigen - 1 causes a contraceptive effect in actively immunized mice . naz , r . k . ; zhu , x . biol reprod 59 ( 5 ) pp 1095 - 100 1998 ; zonagen suspends further research on zona pellucida contraceptive vaccine . business wire , sep . 27 , 2001 . with respect to exogenous dna for expression in a vector ( e . g ., encoding an epitiope of interest and / or an antigen and / or a therapeutic ) and documents providing such exogenous dna , as well as with respect to the expression of transcription and / or translation factors for enhancing expression of nucleic acid molecules , and as to terms such as “ epitope of interest ”, “ therapeutic ”, “ immune response ”, “ immunological response ”, “ protective immune response ”, “ immunological composition ”, “ immunogenic composition ”, and “ vaccine composition ”, inter alia , reference is made to u . s . pat . no . 5 , 990 , 091 issued nov . 23 , 1999 , and wo 98 / 00166 and wo 99 / 60164 , and the documents cited therein and the documents of record in the prosecution of that patent and those pct applications ; all of which are incorporated herein by reference . thus , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 990 , 091 and wo 98 / 00166 and wo 99 / 60164 and documents cited therein and documents or record in the prosecution of that patent and those pct applications , and other documents cited herein or otherwise incorporated herein by reference , can be consulted in the practice of this invention ; and , all exogenous nucleic acid molecules , promoters , and vectors cited therein can be used in the practice of this invention . in this regard , mention is also made of u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 004 , 777 , 5 , 997 , 878 , 5 , 989 , 561 , 5 , 976 , 552 , 5 , 972 , 597 , 5 , 858 , 368 , 5 , 863 , 542 , 5 , 833 , 975 , 5 , 863 , 542 , 5 , 843 , 456 , 5 , 766 , 598 , 5 , 766 , 597 , 5 , 762 , 939 , 5 , 756 , 102 , 5 , 756 , 101 , 5 , 494 , 807 . embodiments of the invention that employ adenovirus recombinants , may include e1 - defective , e3 - defective , and / or e4 - defective adenovirus vectors , or the “ gutless ” adenovirus vector in which all viral genes are deleted . the e1 mutation raises the safety margin of the vector because e1 - defective adenovirus mutants are replication incompetent in non - permissive cells . the e3 mutation enhances the immunogenicity of the antigen by disrupting the mechanism whereby adenovirus down - regulates mhc class i molecules . the e4 mutation reduces the immunogenicity of the adenovirus vector by suppressing the late gene expression , thus may allow repeated re - vaccination utilizing the same vector . the “ gutless ” adenovirus vector is the latest model in the adenovirus vector family . its replication requires a helper virus and a special human 293 cell line expressing both e1a and cre , a condition that does not exist in natural environment ; the vector is deprived of all viral genes , thus the vector as a vaccine carrier is non - immunogenic and may be inoculated for multiple times for re - vaccination . the “ gutless ” adenovirus vector also contains 36 kb space for accommodating transgenes , thus allowing co - delivery of a large number of antigen genes into cells . specific sequence motifs such as the rgd motif may be inserted into the h - i loop of an adenovirus vector to enhance its infectivity . an adenovirus recombinant is constructed by cloning specific transgenes or fragments of transgenes into any of the adenovirus vectors such as those described above . the adenovirus recombinant is used to transduce epidermal cells of a vertebrate in a non - invasive mode for use as an immunizing agent . the vaccines of the present invention can be administered to an animal either alone or as part of an immunological composition . for example , the vaccination can be combined with vaccines for other maladies which afflict domestic or other animals . as to “ immunogenic composition ”, “ immunological composition ” and “ vaccine ”, an immunological composition containing the vector ( or an expression product thereof ) elicits an immunological response , local or systemic . the response can , but need not be protective . an immunogenic composition containing the inventive recombinant or vector ( or an expression product thereof ) likewise elicits a local or systemic immunological response which can , but need not be , protective . a vaccine composition elicits a local or systemic protective response . accordingly , the terms “ immunological composition ” and “ immunogenic composition ” include a “ vaccine composition ” ( as the two former terms can be protective compositions ). the invention comprehends immunological , immunogenic or vaccine compositions . with respect to dosages , routes of administration , formulations , adjuvants , and uses for recombinant viruses and expression products therefrom , compositions of the invention may be used for parenteral or mucosal administration , preferably by intradermal , subcutaneous or intramuscular routes . when mucosal administration is used , it is possible to use oral , ocular or nasal routes . the inventive recombinant vector or immunological or vaccine compositions or therapeutic compositions , can be prepared in accordance with standard techniques well known to those skilled in the pharmaceutical or veterinary art . such compositions can be administered in dosages and by techniques well known to those skilled in the veterinary arts taking into consideration such factors as the age , sex , weight , and the route of administration . the compositions can be administered alone , or can be co - administered or sequentially administered with compositions , e . g ., with “ other ” immunological composition , or attenuated , inactivated , recombinant vaccine or therapeutic compositions thereby providing multivalent or “ cocktail ” or combination compositions of the invention and methods employing them . again , the ingredients and manner ( sequential or co - administration ) of administration , as well as dosages can be determined taking into consideration such factors as the age , sex , weight , and , the route of administration . in this regard , reference is made to u . s . pat . no . 5 , 843 , 456 , incorporated herein by reference , and directed to rabies compositions and combination compositions and uses thereof such as bait drops ; see also other documents cited herein and documents cited or referenced in herein cited documents , including u . s . pat . no . 6 , 217 , 883 . examples of compositions of the invention include liquid preparations for mucosal administration , e . g ., oral , nasal , ocular , etc ., administration such as suspensions and , preparations for parenteral , subcutaneous , intradermal , intramuscular ( e . g ., injectable administration ) such as sterile suspensions or emulsions . in such compositions the recombinant poxvirus or immunogens may be in admixture with a suitable carrier , diluent , or excipient such as sterile water , physiological saline , or the like . the compositions can also be lyophilized or frozen . the compositions can contain auxiliary substances such as wetting or emulsifying agents , ph buffering agents , adjuvants , preservatives , and the like , depending upon the route of administration and the preparation desired . the compositions can contain at least one adjuvant compound preferably , a solution of adjuvant according to the invention , especially of carbomer , is prepared in distilled water , preferably in the presence of sodium chloride , the solution obtained being at acidic ph . this stock solution is diluted by adding it to the desired quantity ( for obtaining the desired final concentration ), or a substantial part thereof , of water charged with nacl , preferably physiological saline ( nacl 9 g / l ) all at once in several portions with concomitant or subsequent neutralization ( ph 7 . 3 to 7 . 4 ), preferably with naoh . this solution at physiological ph will be used as it is for mixing with the vaccine , which may be especially stored in freeze - dried , liquid or frozen form . the compositions of the invention can also be formulated as oil in water or as water in oil in water emulsions , e . g . as in v . ganne et al . vaccine 1994 , 12 , 1190 - 1196 . standard texts , such as “ remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical science ”, 17th edition , 1985 , incorporated herein by reference , may be consulted to prepare suitable preparations , without undue experimentation . compositions in forms for various administration routes are envisioned by the invention . and again , the effective dosage and route of administration are determined by known factors , such as age , sex , weight , and other screening procedures which are known and do not require undue experimentation . dosages of each active agent can be as in herein cited documents ( or documents referenced or cited in herein cited documents ) and / or can range from one or a few to a few hundred or thousand micrograms , e . g ., 1 μg to 1 mg , for a subunit immunogenic , immunological or vaccine composition . recombinant vectors can be administered in a suitable amount to obtain in vivo expression corresponding to the dosages described herein and / or in herein cited documents . the invention will now be further described by the following non - limiting examples . we have evaluated anti - gnrh vaccines in dogs and cats using assays of reproductive hormones , anti - gnrh antibodies , reproductive behavior , fertility and histological changes in reproductive organs . a radioimmunoassay is used to assay the immunological response of dogs treated with the gnrh vaccine . gnrh labeled with radioiodine ( i - 125 ) is reacted with dilutions of sera from immunized subjects . bovine serum albumin blocks nonspecific antigen - antibody binding . antibody titer is defined as percentage of total radio labeled isotope bound in antibody containing sera that is precipitated with ethanol . hormone concentrations are assayed in plasma or feces for estrone , estradiol , progesterone , and testosterone by radioimmunoassays . male and female dogs immunized with constructs are examined for production of anti - gnrh antibodies . female dogs are examined by vaginal cytology and plasma or fecal concentrations of estrogens and progesterones . essentially the same procedures are used to test efficacy and safety in cats , except that vaginal cytology is not used because cats are induced ovulators . we have developed a method for estrogen and progesterone assays in feces . this assay provides endocrine measures that eliminate day to day fluctuations . immunized males are examined for breeding soundness by microscopic examination of semen and testicular histology . we have developed standard methods which are optimal for reproductive success in these species . all dogs and cats are housed in runs , preferably in small groups . illumination is carefully controlled for spectral wavelength ( natural daylight spectrum bulbs ), intensity and light dark cycle ( 14 : 10 l : d ). female vaccinates are housed with fertile males and observed for reproductive behavior and fertility . after immunization and detection of serum antibodies , dogs are in breeding groups of two immunized and one control female with an untreated fertile male . cats are housed with all four test females , two controls and one tom . female dogs are sampled weekly for vaginal cytology which will indicate the stage and impending changes in estrus cycle . female dogs and cats are observed daily for indications of estrum characteristic of the species . ovaries and testes are examined histologically for immune - system - dependent lesions . unilateral ovarian and testicular gonadectomies are performed following observation of reproductive disruption by the assessments described above . the gonads are sectioned and examined for lesions . if lesions are found , they are characterized for type of cellular infiltrate and loss of primordial gamete and endocrine cells . one antigen was designed by inserting multiple copies of gnrh into proteins of e . coli at the precise locations known to be the primary immunogenic sites . we have tested these antigens extensively for antigenicity , dose response , formulation and duration of gonadal suppression , with and without cpg molecular adjuvantation . we now have 18 months of data from male cats immunized with this antigen ( fig2 and 3 ). from this immunization trial we learned that the cpg molecular immunostimulatory adjuvant is essential to achieve contraceptive antibody titers and sustained gonadal suppression . cats immunized with the antigen plus cpg achieved titers of greater than 95 % of the standard anti - gnrh antibody titer and maintained that antibody level for more that 4 months . when these cats were given a booster vaccination , they displayed a typical immune memory ( anamnestic ) response resulting in elevation of antibody titer . when these cats &# 39 ; antibody titers remained above 90 % of standard , there was no detectable serum testosterone and their testicular diameter was 50 % of normal . these findings demonstrate that these cats are immunocastrated . similar results were obtained for dogs immunized with the same antigen ( fig4 and 5 ). one of these dogs developed spermiogenesis after immunization ( fig6 and 7 ). this antigen , which was neither translationally conjugated to tetc nor administered with a recombinant vector , did not achieve gonadal suppression for our target of 12 months . the use of ad as a vector and tetc as the antigenic carrier may provide gonadal suppression for at least 12 months . an adenovirus vectored vaccine which expresses the non - toxic tetanus toxin c fragment has been evaluated . our first immunization trial with the vaxin adcmv - tetc vaccine was to confirm that it induces a vigorous immune response in cats and dogs . an additional objective was to determine the optimal route of administration . the early results of our immunization trial with the vaxin adcmv - tetc vaccine involved three groups of three cats each that were immunized with adcmv - tetc by one of three routes : intranasal ( in ), intramuscular ( m ) or subcutaneous ( sq ). a non - immunized control cat in each group served as sentinel for accidental transmission of the viral vector . cats in all three immunization groups responded vigorously and rapidly with high anti - tetanus antibody titers ( see fig8 - 12 ). the three cats in the intramuscular immunization group developed high titers ( 1 : 6 , 400 ) within 3 - 4 weeks after a single primary vaccination ; after a single booster administered at 4 weeks , the titers increased to an extremely high titer of 1 : 25 , 600 ( fig9 ). the 6 cats in the subcutaneous and intranasal groups all responded similarly after the booster to generate titers of 1 : 6 , 400 ( 5 of 6 cats ) or 1 : 25 , 600 ( 1 of 6 cats ) ( fig8 and 10 ). none of the control cats , which were housed with the vaccinates , developed any detectable titer . this vectored product , therefore , is safe for the operator since there was no apparent accidental exposure of the control cats sufficient to induce antibody response . two groups of three dogs each were immunized with the adcmv - tetc vector by one of two routes of administration , either 3im or 3sq , and two dogs served as unimmunized controls . the controls did not develop anti - tetc antibodies . all 6 immunized dogs developed antibody titers to the primary immunization . the mean titer was 1 : 250 for im and sq immunization , similar to the primary response in the corresponding cat study . after boosting at 8 weeks postimmunization , the titer for the three im dogs was 1 : 1 , 250 , and the titer for the three sq dogs was 1 : 6 , 250 . the remarkable response to the primary immunizing dose , and robust response to the booster dose pointed towards the possibility of using an adtetc - gnrh vaccine in a single dose immunization schedule . plasmid pgnrh - 14 consists of 13 . 5 gnrh repeats inserted into the ncoi site of ptrueblue - pvuii plasmid ( fig2 ). the gnrh repeats was excised with the ncoi restriction enzyme followed by in - frame insertion into the ncol site of pcmv - tetc encoding the tetanus toxin c - fragment ( tetc ) ( described in shi et al ., 2001 ) to create a gnrh : tetc fusion sequence driven by the cytomegalovirus ( cmv ) early promoter ( pcmv - gnrh : tetc ). for pcmv - tetc , see wo 00 / 66179 and u . s . pat . no . 6 , 348 , 450 , which are herein incorporated by reference . 5 ′- gaa cat tgg tca tat gga cta cgg ccg gga - 3 ′ e h w s y g l r p g the gnrh : tetc fusion fragment was excised as a bamhi fragment from pcmv - gnrh : tetc and subsequently inserted into the bamhi site of padapt ( crucell ) in the correct orientation ( padapt - gnrh : tetc ). for padapt , see u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 492 , 169 , 6 , 447 , 768 , and 6 , 340 , 595 , which are herein incorporated by reference . a replication competent adenovirus ( rca )- free adenovirus vector encoding the gnrh : tetc fusion protein driven by the cmv promoter ( adcmv - gnrh : tetc ) was constructed by co - transfecting padapt - gnrh : tetc with pjm17 into per . c6 cells ( fallaux et al ., 1998 ). plaques were purified twice . adcmv - gnrh : tetc was propagated and purified as described in shi et al ., 2001 . the gnrh : tetc fusion fragment was also excised as a bamhi fragment from pcmv - gnrh : tetc and subsequently inserted into the bamhi site of pnirb ( constructed at vaxin ) in the correct orientation to create pnirb - gnrh : tetc for expression in a bacterial vector . an e . coli strain harboring pnirb - gnrh : tetc was grown in l broth containing 50 μg / ml kanamycin . plasmid pgnrh - 14 contains 13 . 5 gnrh tandem repeats flanked by the ncoi site of ptrueblue - pvuii . in pgnrh - 14 , a start methionine codon was situated directly upstream of the first ehwsyglrpg gnrh repeat . the gnrh repeats were not interrupted by linker sequences , and the fourteenth repeat was truncated after ehwsyg . the gnrh multimer sequence of pgnrh - 14 was excised and introduced alone and in combination with tetc downstream of the pnirb bacterial promoter in a plasmid context and downstream of the cytomegalovirus immediate - early promoter in the adenovirus context . the gnrh multimer replication - defective adenoviral recombinant vector was engineered by introducing an ecori - bamhi fragment containing the gnrh multimer sequence from plasmid ptrueblue - gnrh - 14 into the ecori - bamhi site of padapt to produce padapt - gnrh ( fig2 ). the gnrh multimer nonpathogenic e . coli and salmonella recombinant vectors were engineered by introducing a clai - bamhi fragment containing the gnrh multimer sequence from plasmid ptrueblue - gnrh - 14 into the clai - bamhi site of pnirb to produce pnirb - gnrh , follwed by transformation of bacterial cells ( fig2 ). the replication - defective adenoviral recombinant vector containing tetc translationally conjugated to the 3 ′ end of the gnrh multimer was engineered by introducing an ncoi fragment containing the gnrh multimer sequence from plasmid ptrueblue - gnrh - 14 into the ncoi site of pbluscript - tetc to produce pbluscript - gnrh - tetc ; the bamhi fragment of pbluscript - gnrh - tetc containing the gnrh - tetc fusion was then introduced into the bamhi site of padapt to produce padapt - gnrh - tetc ( fig2 ). the nonpathogenic e . coli and salmonella recombinant vectors containing tetc translationally conjugated to the 3 ′ end of the gnrh multimer were engineered by introducing a bamhi fragment containing the gnrh - tetc fusion from plasmid ptrueblue - gnrh - tetc into the bamhi site of pnirb to produce pnirb - gnrh - tetc , followed by transformation of bacterial cells ( fig2 ). the effects of anti - gnrh protein antigen and cpg adjuvant on prepubescent cats of both genders and postpubescent female cats were tested in a one - year vaccine trial . the antigen was a purified recombinant gnrh - leukotoxin chimera wherein p . haemolytica leukotoxin [ lo , r . y ., shewen , p . e ., strathdee , c . a ., and greer , c . n . cloning and expression of the leukotoxin gene of pasteurella haemolytica a1 in escherichia coli k - 12 . infect . immun . 50 , 667 - 671 ( 1985 )] was translationally conjugated to 8 - copy multimers of gnrh at its n - and c - termini . the antigen was mixed with a stable oil - in - water emulsion . cpg optimized for cats [ wemette , c . m , smith , b . f ., barksdale , z . l ., hecker , r ., and baker , h . j . cpg oligodeoxynucleotides stimulate canine and feline immune cell proliferation . vet . immunol . immunopathol . 84 , 223 - 236 ( 2002 )] was added to the antigen as an adjuvant . the formulated vaccine was administered subcutaneously in a volume of 0 . 25 ml containing 100 micrograms ag and 100 micrograms cpg . injection - site reactions of mild to moderate ( 0 . 5 cm ) swelling were detected within 24 hours , and completely resolved within two weeks . booster immunizations were administered as shown in fig1 , 14 , and 16 . the antibody response to anti - gnrh protein antigen with cpg adjuvant reached contraceptive level by two months ( fig1 ). anti - gnrh protein antigen with cpg adjuvant arrested estrus cycling in a postpubescent female ( fig1 ). anti - gnrh protein antigen with cpg adjuvant prevented initiation of estrus cycling in a prepubescent female ( fig1 and 16 ). anti - gnrh protein antigen with cpg adjuvant reduced serum testosterone to undetectable levels in males ( fig1 and 18 ). anti - gnrh protein antigen with cpg adjuvant induced anti - gnrh antibody titers sufficient to prevented development of secondary sex characteristics in males immunized before puberty ( fig1 ), arrest testicular development in prepubescent males ( fig2 ), induced body condition in vaccinates similar to spayed females ( fig2 ), and involuted ovaries and uteri ( fig2 ). mice were immunized by topical application ( 5 × 10 9 cfu per animal ), intranasal instillation ( 1 × 10 9 cfu per animal ), or intramuscular injection ( 5 × 10 9 cfu per animal ) of an e . coli vector expressing gnrh or gnrh : tetc fusion driven by the nirb promoter . animals were boosted once at an interval of 4 weeks . sera were collected before immunization , 4 weeks after primary immunization before boost application , and 4 weeks postboost for analysis . primary immunized sera following intranasal administration ( n = 4 ) contained similar levels of anti - gnrh antibodies relative to control mice ( n = 5 ), approximately 4 % over control baseline ; in contrast , boosted immunized sera ( n = 5 ) was approximately 37 % over control baseline . boosted immunized sera following topical administration ( n = 5 ) was approximately 20 % over control baseline . primary immunized sera following intramuscular administration ( n = 5 ) was approximately 93 % over control baseline , and boosted immunized sera ( n = 4 ) was approximately 200 % over baseline control . in a second experiment , mice were immunized with a gnrh or gnrh - tetc bacterial recombinant vector , and binding of radiolabeled gnrh by their sera was determined . intranasal administration of gnrh bacterial recombinant vector initially increased gnrh binding in 0 of 5 mice ; boosted sera from 1 of these 5 mice exhibited increased gnrh binding ( 2 . 7 % increase in percentage bound ). intranasal administration of gnrh - tetc recombinant vector initially increased gnrh binding in 1 of 5 mice ( 16 % increase ); boosted sera from 2 of these 5 mice exhibited increased gnrh binding ( average 1 . 1 % increase ). intramuscular administration of gnrh bacterial recombinant vector initially increased gnrh binding in 0 of 5 mice ; boosted sera from 0 of these 5 mice exhibited increased gnrh binding . intramuscular administration of gnrh - tetc bacterial recombinant vector initially increased binding in 2 of 4 mice ( average 2 . 5 % increase ); boosted sera from 3 of these 4 mice exhibited increased gnrh binding ( average 7 . 8 % increase ). topical administration of gnrh bacterial recombinant vector initially increased gnrh binding in 0 of 5 mice ; boosted sera from 1 of these 5 mice exhibited increased gnrh binding ( 3 . 3 % increase ). topical administration of gnrh - tetc bacterial recombinant vector initially increased binding in 5 of 5 mice ( average 8 . 9 % increase ); boosted sera from 1 of these 5 mice exhibited increased gnrh binding ( 1 . 0 % increase ). three male beagles were immunized with 400 ug of klh : gnrh antigen administered intramuscularly . responses were determined weekly following immunization ( table 1 ). at seven weeks after immunization , two of the three beagles displayed 40 % reduction in testicular size , no detectable testosterone , and no sperm production . the third beagle displayed only 1 % of its pre - immunization sperm count with only 10 % of the remaining sperm having motility . libido was not effected . it can be concluded that infertility was obtained by seven weeks after immunization . the effects of gnrh antigen on dogs , therefore , is similarly robust to its effects on cats . of its pre - immunization sperm count with only 10 % of the remaining sperm having motility . libido was not effected . it can be concluded that infertility was obtained by seven weeks after immunization . the effects of gnrh antigen on dogs , therefore , is similarly robust to its effects on cats . 6 . chengalvala , m v , bhatt , r a , bhat , b m , vernon , s k , and lubeck , m d : enhanced immunogenicity of hepatitis b serface antigen by insertion of a helper t cell epitope from tetanus toxoid . vaccine 1999 ; 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63 : 399 - 406 . 11 . clarke i j , fraser h m and mcneilly a s . active immunization of ewes against luteinizing hormone releasing hormone and its effects on ovulation and gonadotrophin , prolactin and ovarian steroid secretion . journal of endocrinology . 1978 ; 78 : 39 - 47 . 12 . silversides , d w , murphy b d , mapletoft r j , misra v , and allen a f . agents and procedures for provoking an immune response to gnrh and immunosterilizing mammals . u . s . pat . no . 4 , 975 , 420 , 1990 . 13 . jeffcoate s l , holland d t , fraser h m and gunn a . preparation and specificity of antibodies to the decapeptide , luteinizing hormone releaseing hormone . immunochemistry . 1974 ; 11 : 7 - 77 . 14 . c - t hsu , c - y ting , c - j ting , t - y chen , c - p lin , j whang - peng , and j . hwang : vaccination against gonadotropin - releasing hormone ( gnrh ) using toxin receptor - binding domain - conjugated gnrh repeats . cancer research 2000 ; 60 : 3701 - 3705 . 15 . shi , z ., zeng , m ., yang , g ., siegel , f ., cain , l . j ., van kampen , k . r ., elmets , c . a ., and tang , d . c . protection against tetanus by needle - free inoculation of adenovirus - vectored nasal and epicutaneous vaccines . j . virol . 2001 ; 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