| abstract |
A method for increasing the muscle mass in animals, such as cow, sheep, pig and chicken, comprises (a) administering a vaccine which will promote the production of anti-myostatin (i. e., anti- growth differentiation factor 8 or GDF-8) antibodies, or (b) providing the animal with an immunoneutralising amount of anti-myostatin antibodies. Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor (TGF) superfamily of proteins, is thought to exert a negative control on the amount of skeletal muscle mass in an animal. The use of a vaccine or antibodies to myostatin allows one to increase the skeletal muscle mass in domesticated animals and thus increase their value as food sources. The vaccine may be a hapten-carrier protein conjugate in which the hapten is an epitope of myostatin, particularly from the functional domain at the C-terminus, or it may be a fusion protein comprising such an epitope fused to a carrier protein. The fusion protein product is obtained using standard recombinant DNA procedures using E Coli as host. The vaccine is preferably administered in a formulation also containing an adjuvant such as an aluminium salt (AIPO 4 ) or an oil-in-water emulsion such as vitamin-E acetate solubilisate. Immunoneutralisation of myostatin may occur after a single dose or a once yearly dose may be applied. Immunoneutralisation may also be induced in pregnant animals resulting in transplacental transfer of anti-myostatin antibodies to the foetus and consequent increased muscle mass in the offspring. |