Stabilized cancer associated polypeptide antigen and preparation thereof

Claim 1

A method of making an antigen albumen complex comprising the steps of: mixing, in acid solution, at a pH not exceeding about 5, the antigen, said antigen being: a cancer associated polypeptide antigen, obtained from a source selected from the group consisting of human tumor tissue, a culture of cancerous cells grown in vitro, and human placental tissue, having a molecular weight of 23,200 ± 2,500 (S.D.) and showing a spectrophotometric peak absorption at a wave length within the range from about 229 nm to about 233 nm, said polypeptide being based on a single peptide chain as shown by treatment with performic acid, said single peptide chain comprising the following amino acids: Alanine, Arginine, Aspartic acid, Cysteine, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Serine, Threonine, Tyrosine, and Valine, said polypeptide antigen comprising also a fluoroescent group which emits fluorescent light at about 350 nm when activated at a wavelength of about 288 nm, and, if not protected by complexing with albumen, denaturating irreversibly at pH's exceeding about 5, and albumen, and raising the pH of the solution to about neutral to cause interaction between the components and production of a relatively stable antigen albumen complex.

Claim 2

A method of making an antigen albumen complex comprising the steps of: mixing, in acid solution, at a pH not exceeding about 5, the antigen, said antigen being: a cancer associated polypeptide antigen, obtained from a source selected from the group consisting of human tumor tissue, a culture of cancerous cells grown in vitro, and human placental tissue, having a molecular weight of 23,200 ± 2,500 (S.D.) and showing a spectrophotometric peak absorption at a wave length within the range from about 229 nm to about 233 nm, said polypeptide being based on a single peptide chain as shown by treatment with performic acid, said single peptide chain comprising the following amino acids: Alanine, Arginine, Aspartic acid, Cysteine, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Serine, Threonine, Tyrosine, and Valine, said polypeptide antigen comprising also a fluoroescent group which emits fluorescent light at about 350 nm when activated at a wavelength of about 288 nm, and, if not protected by complexing with albumen, denaturating irreversibly at pH's exceeding about 5, and albumen, and raising the pH of the solution to about neutral to cause interaction between the components and production of a relatively stable antigen albumen complex.