Appeal No. 1998-1987
Application No. 07/915,783
1 wash with NETT buffer containing 0.5 M NaCl and 2 washes with NETT buffer.
Gels were spun at 200 x G for 2 min for each wash.”).
The disclosed compositions also comprise plasmodial antigens that are
solubilized with a non-ionic detergent (i.e., Nonidet P-40 or Triton X-100). See
Kilejian at page 3696 (“[P]arasites were solubilized . . . in 4 vol of 1% Nonidet P-
40.”); Epstein at page 213 (“[C]ells were extracted with 1% Triton X-100.”).
Finally, the compositions would reasonably be expected to induce
immunological reactivity to plasmodial parasites, because they comprise
plasmodial antigens. The plasmodial antigens in each of the disclosed
compositions were isolated based on binding of the antigen to antibodies that
were raised to intact merozoites. See Kilejian, page 3695 (“Rabbit A was
immunized with merozoites.”); Epstein, page 212 (“mice . . . were immunized with
freshly prepared merozoites.”). Thus, the antigens in the compositions disclosed
by Kilejian and Epstein would reasonably be expected to contain at least one
epitope that is displayed by the intact (merozoite-stage) parasite. Since the
antigens would be expected to comprise epitopes that are shared by the intact
parasites, they would be expected to induce immunological reactivity to the intact
parasites.
The antigen-isolation process disclosed by Kilejian and Epstein differs in
one respect from that recited in the instant claims: the claims recite a process
comprising “forming a suspension in water” of the parasite-containing material,
5 The extract was “preadsorbed with . . . protein A-Sepharose CL-4B” but this step was
only “[t]o reduce nonspecific binding of antigen to the immunoadsorbant.” Id.
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