How much antigen is required and how should it be prepared?
We recommend three immunizations with four weeks in between each immunization. This is in accordance with what is stipulated under Swedish laws. The amount depends on the availability of the antigen. We prefer to use 100 g/animal/immunization if there is enough antigen. If we have a limited amount of antigen, we would first reduce the number of animals to two and if this is not enough we would reduce the amount of antigen to 50 or 25 g/animal/immunization. We have used 10 g successfully too, but the chances of failure increases as one reduces the amount of antigen. This is especially true if the antigen is a poor immunogen. If the molecular weight of the antigen is below 10 kD, it should be coupled to a carrier protein, e.g. KLH. This increases the immunogenity to give a better response for the peptide. The preparation will depend on what you have available. The preparation should have a fairly neutral pH and not be toxic. For shipment it is often easier with freeze dried materials.
